Bus falls into gorge in western India; 33 feared dead

An official says 33 people are feared dead after a bus fell into a deep gorge in western India.

Civil administrator Vijay Suryawanshi says a bus carrying 34 employees of an agriculture university plunged off a mountain road on Saturday while negotiating a curve in Raigad district of Maharashtra state.

He says one man survived as he jumped out of the bus and later scaled onto the road to inform university officials about the accident.

Suryawanshi says the employees were on a private picnic.

Rescue teams so far recovered nearly a dozen bodies amid intermittent rains in the area.

India has the world’s deadliest roads, with more than 110,000 people killed annually. Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles.