65 killed in Indian accidents

A bus carrying wedding guests veered out of control and crashed into a rain-swollen river in eastern India, hours after a boat capsized in the same waterway.

At least 65 people were feared killed in the two accidents, police said today.

The bus was travelling in Bihar state last night when the driver lost control and it plunged into the Bagmati River 55 miles north of the state capital of Patna.

Twenty-five people were believed killed in the bus accident, which took place not far from where a boat capsized in the river, killing 40 people.

The river was swollen by pre-monsoon rains in neighbouring Nepal where it originates.

It is revered by millions of Hindus in India and in Nepal, where folklore and religion are associated with thousands of sacred rivers in which the devout bathe, believing their sins will be washed away.

Seven of the 32 people on board the bus survived and police were looking for the others in the fast currents of the river, magnified by a sudden rush of water from Nepal, said District Magistrate Arun Prasad.

Hours earlier, a boat crowded with mostly women and children capsized in the same river, drowning 40.