At least 16 dead as school bus full of children plunges into 100ft deep gorge

At least 16 people were killed and 20 others injured when a bus driver reportedly lost control of his vehicle and tumbled down a 100ft Himalayan ravine in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir this morning

Video loading

Video not available

Click to playTap to play

India: at least nine dead in minibus accident

Young children were among the 16 killed when a school bus plunged into a gorge in India.

Twenty other people were injured after the bus - which was reportedly packed well beyond its capacity - took off from a hill and fell 30 meters into a ravine in the Indian state of Jammu and -Cashmere this morning.

The death toll is likely to rise as several of those injured have been admitted to hospital in critical condition, police said.

The majority of the victims were students from a public school in the northern region.

Two young boys aged 5 and 14, two teenage girls and a woman were among those who died tragically around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The minibus veered off the road when the driver lost control of the steering wheel, according to reports.

It was also claimed that the bus was carrying far too many passengers when it rolled down the Himalayan ravine.

An injured man is escorted from the scene by locals who rushed to rescue the survivors

The initial death toll was 11, but rose to 16 when five more people died tragically in hospital.

A police officer at the scene said, "The death toll is likely to rise given the serious injuries to nine passengers."

Police, armed forces and residents rushed to the scene in a major rescue operation after the crash.

Indian Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha spoke of his grief and expressed his condolences to the families of the bereaved.

He said, "Saddened by loss of life due to road accident in Sawjian, Poonch," he wrote on Twitter. "Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon."