Minibus plunges into 500ft gorge from mountain road in Kashmir, killing at least 31 people

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A minibus has fallen into a 500-feet-deep gorge in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least 31 people and injuring seven others.

The overcrowded bus was negotiating a bend when it plunged off the Himalayan mountain road and rolled down into the gorge along a rocky stream, civil administrator Angrez Singh Rana said.

Rescue teams evacuated the injured to hospital, where all of them are in a critical condition.

Mr Singh Rana said officials are investigating whether the cause of the accident was a mechanical failure or driver’s negligence.

Top police officer MK Sinha said the 27-seat bus was overcrowded.

He said the bus hit the rocks and was torn apart in several pieces.

On 27 June, a minibus carrying students to a picnic crashed into a gorge along another Himalayan road in Kashmir, killing at least 11 and injuring seven others.

India’s are the world’s deadliest roads, with about 150,000 people killed and 470,000 injured annually.

Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Mailk said many of the drivers were untrained and he had ordered state officials to cancel their licences.

"Most of the accidents take place due to careless and untrained drivers who drive without any regard for rules and regulations," a state government spokesman quoted the governor as saying.

Additional reporting by Associated Press