"Wedding Trip Ends in Tragedy"…Vehicle Carrying Guests Crashes, 25 Dead

Moving Along the Mountain Expressway
Sudden Drop Due to Failure to Overcome Slope at the Edge

The rescue team is searching the site of a bus crash in northern India. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Juri] In northern India, a bus carrying wedding guests veered off the road and plunged into a gorge, resulting in at least 25 deaths.

According to AFP, the bus transporting guests was precariously traveling along a steep mountainous highway in Uttarakhand state when it lost control at the edge and plunged more than 500 meters down the slope. There were 45 passengers on board.

Ashok Kumar, a senior state police official, told AFP, "20 people have been rescued."

Children were also on the bus, and all passengers were reportedly wedding guests.

Prime Minister Modi tweeted on the day, "My heart goes out to the bereaved families over this tragic incident."

India frequently experiences major traffic accidents due to poor road conditions and frequent traffic rule violations.

According to a World Bank report released last year, India owns only 1% of the world's vehicles but accounts for 11% of global road fatalities.

The same report added that 150,000 people die annually in traffic accidents in India, which translates to one death every four minutes.

Accidents involving falls into valleys are especially common in the northern mountainous regions.

In August, a bus carrying 39 military personnel in the Indian-administered Kashmir mountainous area fell into a river below a valley, killing 7 people.

In June, a bus heading to the Hindu Yamuna temple north of Dehradun, the Indian capital, fell into a gorge, resulting in 24 deaths.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.