Flood waters sweep wedding bus into river; 44 feared dead

Flood waters swept an overcrowded bus carrying a wedding party in Indian Kashmir into a gorge Thursday, with all but six of the 50 on board feared dead. Rescue teams have been deployed to the flooded gorge south of Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar but have so far been unable to reach the bus, police said. Heavy rains that have hit the region in the last 24 hours and strong currents in the deep gorge have hampered attempts to search for any survivors.

Six passengers managed to swim to safety and they were rescued from the gorge.

Rajendra Kumar, director general of police

Rajendra Kumar, director general of police, said: “We are using everything at our disposal in the rescue effort and a crane is in place for pulling the bus out of the river.” The army was also deployed as fresh landslides made access to the accident site difficult. The bride and groom were reported to be among those travelling on the bus when the accident happened, although this could not be confirmed.

Air force rescue helicopters are ready but heavy rains and a strong current in the stream are making it difficult.

Rajendra Kumar

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