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'Dozens dead' in Kashmir bus plunge | 'Dozens dead' in Kashmir bus plunge |
(35 minutes later) | |
Dozens of people are feared dead after floods swept a passenger bus into a gorge in Indian-administered Kashmir. | |
The bus was carrying about 50 members of a wedding party, including the bride and the groom, reports said. | |
The flood waters are surging and rescue efforts are under way, top police official Owais Ahmad told the BBC. | |
The region is suffering from its worst flooding in 22 years, which has claimed at least nine lives since Tuesday. | The region is suffering from its worst flooding in 22 years, which has claimed at least nine lives since Tuesday. |
Road accidents are common in India and last year, more than 138,000 people died, according to government figures. | Road accidents are common in India and last year, more than 138,000 people died, according to government figures. |
Thursday's accident took place in Rajouri district in the Jammu region. | |
Officials said rescuers were searching for the bus, but they had not been able to locate it in the flood waters. | |
"Rescue teams are there, including a column of the army," news agency AFP quoted inspector general of police Rajesh Kumar as saying. | |
"Air force helicopters are also ready, but heavy rains and a strong current in the stream make it difficult," he said, adding that some of the passengers on board might have escaped to safety. | |
Incessant rains have triggered landslides and flooded many parts of Indian-administered Kashmir, the BBC's Riyaz Masroor reports from Srinagar. | |
Authorities have declared a "disaster alert" in the region and all schools and colleges are closed and exams have been postponed, our correspondent adds. |