NEW DELHI, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed and 40 others injured Friday after a bus carrying them skidded off a mountainous road and fell into a gorge in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, officials said.
The accident took place at Haripurdhar village of Sirmaur district, about 142 km southeast of Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh.
Senior local government official Sunil Kayath said the rescue operation was going on and all the injured were rushed to nearby hospitals.
Officials said the death toll is likely to increase, owing to the critical condition of some of the injured.
The cause of the accident was not immediately known.
Deadly road accidents are common in India, often due to overloading, bad road conditions and reckless driving. Last year, over 480,000 road accidents were recorded in the country. ■
