Bus crash in northern India kills 14

A passenger bus on Saturday plunged off a mountain road into a gorge in northern India, killing 14 people, a local official said.

The accident happened when the driver lost control, veering the bus off the road and into the canyon below in Almora district, some 370 kilometres (230 miles) from Dehradun, capital of the state of Uttarakhand.

“The driver couldn’t control (the bus)… Fourteen people have died and 22 have been injured,” Anil Chanyal, a senior district administrative officer, told AFP.

Deadly traffic accidents are common in India. Two separate accidents killed nearly 40 people last Saturday, including when a van full of pilgrims plunged into a river in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh.

India has some of the world’s deadliest roads, with more than 200,000 fatalities annually, according to the World Health Organization.

Transport analysts attribute the huge number of accidents to poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.