Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

27 killed as bus falls off mountain road in northern India

Sunday 24 October 1999 19:00 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Amritsa, India (AP) - A bus swerved to avoid hitting a cow and skidded off a mountain road and into a deep gorge today, killing 27 pilgrims and injuring 47 on the way back from a temple town in northern India.

Amritsa, India (AP) - A bus swerved to avoid hitting a cow and skidded off a mountain road and into a deep gorge today, killing 27 pilgrims and injuring 47 on the way back from a temple town in northern India.

The accident took place in Chahal village in Punjab state's Hoshiarpur district.

Police in Hoshiarpur said the driver lost control of the bus when he tried to avoid hitting a cow which was crossing the road. The bus hurtled down the mountainside careered into trees about 80ft (24m) below. The victims crashed through the broken windscreen and fell 600ft (181m) into the gorge.

The bus was carrying pilgrims returning from the Hindu shrines of Chintpurni and Dera Varbagh Singh in the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh state. Most of the victims were from Hoshiarpur, Phagwara, Ludhiana and Sangrur towns of Punjab.

The death toll could increase as some of the injured are reported to be in serious condition.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in