Associated Press

New Delhi, March 13:

At least 33 people were killed when one bus plunged into a canal and another fell into a gorge in a mountainous region today, police and news reports said. At least 18 Hindu pilgrims were killed when two buses collided in western India and one sank in the canal near Dakor, a town 120 km north of Ahmadabad, the main city of Gujarat state, said AK Bhargava, the director-general of police. Rescuers found 18 bodies, and at least six more pilgrims were feared trapped in the bus, Bhargava said. The driver jumped off the bus and fled the area, Bhargava told The Associated Press. No casualties were reported in the second bus involved in the collision, which also was carrying pilgrims, he said.

In another accident today, at least 15 people were killed and another 14 were injured when the bus they were in fell into a gorge in Mussoorie, a northern hill resort, 225 km north of New Delhi, Press Trust of India news agency quoted police as saying. All the 15 bodies have been recovered and the injured hospitalized in Mussoorie in Uttranchal state, PTI said.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known. Fatal road accidents are common in India. Meanwhile, in a report from Raipur, six bogies of a goods train derailed early today between Chhattisgarh’s Bhatapara and Nipania railway stations, disrupting rail traffic beween Kolkata and Mumbai. The derailment took place under the Bilaspur railway zone. No loss of life was reported. Traffic was likely to return to normalcy later today, a railway official said.