Thirty die in road accidents in north India mountains
Published : 21 May 2016, 17:31
Two deadly road accidents in India's northern Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh killed at least 30 people and injured 24 others, police said Saturday.
An overcrowded jeep fell into a gorge 1,000 feet (304 metres) deep early Saturday, killing 13 people in Kinnaur district, police said, about 200 kilometres (124 miles) east of state capital Shimla.
"Thirteen people have died and one is injured. 10 of them were from one village," Surinder Mohan, a local police officer, told AFP of the accident.
It followed a separate tragedy late Friday when a passenger minibus bus swerved off a hilly road into a gorge, killing 17 and injuring 23 in the state's Chamba district.
"Seven people died on the spot and the rest died on their way to and in the hospital. Many are critically injured," Ajay Parashar, police officer said.
Fatal traffic accidents are common in India, which has some of the world's deadliest roads with more than 200,000 fatalities annually, according to the World Health Organisation.
Source: AFP.