At least 25 killed as bus plunges into river

At least 25 people were killed and 45 injured when a packed passenger bus veered off a mountain road and plunged into a river in India’s remote north-eastern state of Sikkim.

The driver lost control while negotiating a sharp turn and the bus went off the road and fell into the Teesta River last night, said MG Kiran, a top official in Gangtok, the state capital.

The accident occurred near Rangpo village, about 400 miles west of north-eastern India’s largest city, Gauhati.

The state-run bus had a seating capacity of 32, but at least 70 people were in it, Kiran said.

Villagers and police worked through the night to rescue survivors, many of them critically injured, Kiran said in Gangtok.

He said the crash killed 14 people instantly, and 11 more died in nearby hospitals where the injured were being treated.

Overcrowding, reckless driving and ageing vehicles are blamed for many of the numerous accidents on Indian roads.