Bus plunges down gorge in northern India, killing at least 17 people
Passengers were travelling in darkness when vehicle fell off road near Himalayas in Uttarakhand and broke into pieces
The bus was travelling from Rishikesh and was a quarter of a mile from Ghat, its destination, in northern India. Photograph: Tai Power Seeff/Getty Images
Martin Williams and agencies
Saturday 10 May 2014
Seventeen people have died after a bus plunged off a mountain road in the Himalayan foothills in northern India.
Passengers were travelling in darkness when the bus fell 300 metres and smashed into pieces at the bottom of a gorge in Chamoli district, in the state of Uttarakhand.
Disaster management officials said 15 people died instantly, two others died later, and five were injured. There was no one else on board.
The bus was travelling from Rishikesh and was a quarter of a mile from Ghat, its destination, when it crashed before dawn on Saturday.
The five survivors were being treated at a local hospital.
