AT least 22 people are dead, seven others seriously injured and one missing after a bus plunged into a gorge in a mountainous region in northern India yesterday, said police.

The bus was carrying 30 people, including the driver, to Yamunotri, the remote Hindu pilgrimage site in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, when it went off the road in the evening.

The accident happened in Uttarkashi, about 160km from the state capital Dehradun, and the local control room confirmed 22 deaths.

“The injured have been rushed to nearby medical facilities,” said district police superintendent Arpan Yaduvanshi.

He said rescue workers are still looking for a missing passenger and the death toll “may further increase”.

The picturesque Uttarakhand has some of the holiest Hindu sites and receives millions of pilgrims each year, but has a poorly maintained and notoriously dangerous network of roads.

India’s Home Minister Amit Shah said he is in touch with local authorities about the ongoing relief work for the “very sad” incident.

About 150,000 people are killed in traffic accidents in India each year, according to the government.

Among the main factors contributing to the high number of fatalities are excessive speeding and people not using seatbelts or wearing crash helmets. – AFP, June 6, 2022.