25 wedding guests perish as bus falls into ravine in India

No less than 25 wedding guests have died after a bus conveying them veered off the road and plunged into a 1,640 feet ravine in the northern Indian district of Pauri in Uttarakhand State.

According to provincial police authorities, “the vehicle was travelling along a treacherous mountain highway in Uttarakhand state’s Pauri Garhwal district on Tuesday evening when it careened over the edge and plunged at least 500 metres (1,640 feet) with about 45 people onboard.”

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“While twenty-five people died, twenty people have been rescued,” the state’s police spokesman, Ashok Kumar, said.

Kumar said the bus was carrying 45 wedding guests when it veered off a perilous mountain highway in the north of the country and plunged at least 500 meters into the ravine below.

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who reacted to the incident in a tweet on Wednesday morning, said his “thoughts are with the bereaved families.”

“The bus accident in Pauri, Uttarakhand is heart-rending. In this tragic hour my thoughts are with the bereaved families. I hope those who have been injured recover at the earliest. Rescue operations are underway. All possible assistance will be provided to those affected,” Modi wrote.

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