Bus crashes into gorge in India-controlled Kashmir, killing at least 21 people

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — A bus carrying Hindu pilgrims skidded and rolled into a deep gorge on a mountainous highway in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Thursday, killing at least 21 people, officials said.

Health official Akhnoor Saleem Khan said 35 passengers were injured in the accident and some of them were in serious condition.

The crash happened in the Jammu region when the bus plunged 150 feet (45.7 meters) into the gorge. The cause of the bus crash was being investigated.

State transportation chief Rajinder Singh said the bus was carrying pilgrims to the Shiv Khori temple in the Reasi area of Jammu.

India has some of the highest road death rates in the world, with hundreds of thousands of people killed and injured annually. Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles.

In 2022, a century-old cable suspension bridge collapsed into a river in the western Indian state of Gujarat, sending hundreds plunging into the water and killing at least 132 in one of the worst accidents in the country in the past decade.