Schoolchildren among 16 killed in India as bus falls into deep gorge

Kullu: A passenger bus slid off a mountain road and fell into a deep gorge in northern India on Monday, killing 16 people, including schoolchildren, a government official said.

The bus - run by a private operator - fell into the gorge near Jangla village at around 8.30 am, Kullu deputy commissioner Ashutosh Garg said

Rescue teams were rushed to the site soon after the incident, and those injured were taken to a nearby hospital.

Ashutosh Garg, a senior administrator for the district of Kullu in Himachal Pradesh state informed that rescue workers pulled out the badly injured from the wreckage of the vehicle and sent them to a hospital

Another official, Prashant Sirkek Singh, said about 40 passengers were traveling in the bus.

The exact cause of the crash was not immediately known.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed sorrow over the accident.

Deadly road accidents are common in India due to reckless driving, poorly maintained roads, and aging vehicles. More than 110,000 people are killed every year in road accidents across India, according to police.