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50 pilgrims killed as bus plunges into valley

50 pilgrims killed as bus plunges into valley

By Agence France Presse

Onlookers and rescuers gather around a bus that crashed in Jagtial district in India's southern Telangana state on Tuesday, September 11, 2018. A bus carrying pilgrims from a temple in southern India veered off the road and plunged onto a valley killing 43 people, an official said. Photo: AFP

NEW DELHI: Fifty people died when a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims plunged into a valley in southern India on Tuesday, one of the deadliest accidents on the country’s notorious roads in recent years. The bus carrying 80 people was returning from the famous Hindu temple of Kondagattu Anjaneya Swamy in the hilly southern state of Telangana when it skidded off the road. Broken glass, slippers and luggage lay scattered next to lifeless bodies that were lined up at the scene, as locals pulled out survivors from the mangled vehicle. They then carried them uphill to get medical attention. Some rescuers climbed onto the bus and others tried to reach the injured through the front portion which was completely smashed. “More than half of those killed were women, and there were at least three children,” local official G Narendhar told AFP.