NEW DELHI, June 27 (Xinhua) -- At least six people have been killed in a head-on collision between a bus and an SUV in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal Wednesday, police said.

The accident occurred near Marishda in the state's East Midnapore district, some 150 km from the state capital of Kolkata.

"The SUV carrying the six people collided with the bus coming from the opposite direction this morning. While five of them died on the spot, one succumbed to his injuries on the way to a hospital," local police official Indrajit Basu told the media.

Cops said the victims, who included four politicians of the state's ruling Trinamul Congress party, were traveling to the beach town of Digha.

Local TV channels reported that a few passengers of the bus also sustained minor injuries in the accident and taken to a nearby medical center for first aid.

"A probe has been ordered into the incident. A case has been registered and a manhunt launched to track down the bus driver who fled the spot after the accident leaving the vehicle behind," another police official said.

Road accidents in India occur mostly due to poor driving or badly maintained roads and vehicles. </s> NEW DELHI: Sixteen people were killed and more than 50 injured when a truck carrying churchgoers overturned in a hilly region of northeast India early Sunday, police said.

The truck was carrying people from three villages to a local church when it came to grief in the West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya state.

"The survivors have told us that the truck driver was rash and lost control of the vehicle. After it overturned, many people fell into the deep gorge in this hilly region," district police Superintendent Sylvester Nongtnger told AFP by phone.

"We rescued everyone from the accident spot and rushed them to hospital but many of the survivors have serious injuries." India has some of the world's deadliest roads with more than 150,000 fatalities annually due to poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving. Last month a school bus carrying dozens of pupils collided with a truck in northern India's Uttar Pradesh state, killing 13 people.

Twelve of the dead were children aged between seven and 14, who were seated near the front of the bus when an oncoming truck collided with it. </s> Four Trinamool Congress leaders were among six people killed when a bus rammed into an SUV in Bengal’s East Midnapore district early on Wednesday.

The road accident occurred near Marishda, about 143 km from Kolkata, around 6 am. All the deceased, identified as Abdul Haji Kalam Sheikh (52), Haidar Ali (45), Deb Sagar Dey (42), Samar Ghosh (41), Pradip Das (36) and Asit Ghosh (53), were travelling in the SUV.

Police said the car was plying from Murshidabad to the beach town of Digha along the NH-116B when it collided with the bus, which was coming from the opposite direction. “Five of them died on the spot. The sixth victim –Asit Ghosh – breathed his last while being taken to Kolkata for treatment,” said Indrajit Basu, additional superintendent of police (rural) of East Midnapore.

While Sheikh was in charge of PWD affairs at the Kandi panchayat samiti, Ali looked after agricultural affairs. Sagar was a Trinamool Congress member of the Purandarpur gram panchayat, and Ghosh a ruling party leader from Kandi block.

The SUV, which was driven by Das, had started off from Murshidabad at 10.30 pm on Tuesday.

A few passengers of the Howrah-bound bus, including some children, were also injured in the accident. They were discharged after primary treatment at a nearby medical centre.

Just a day ago, seven people – including four members of a family – were killed in two separate accidents in Malda and Murshidabad districts along the NH-34.

According to a government report, as many as 150,785 people died in road accidents across India in 2016 – a 3.3% jump from the previous year. The Mamata Banerjee government, however, claims declining fatalities on state roads.

According to data furnished by the Bengal government, around 1,409 people were killed in 2,718 road accidents between January and March 2018, as opposed to 1,594 casualties in 3,177 mishaps in the same period the previous year. </s> Angry residents attacked police vans and officials whom they accused of arriving late to the scene of an accident which killed 36 people in India's eastern state of West Bengal.

Bystanders rushed to the rescue when a bus crashed through a bridge and fell into a river in Murshidabad district.

A huge crowd which had gathered around the scene started to throw stones at the police when they arrived.

The police retaliated by using tear gas to disperse the mob.

Two officials from the fire brigade and one policeman were reportedly injured in the clashes.

The crowd is said to have overturned police vans and even set fire to two of them.

Locals told BBC Hindi the bus had had more than 50 passengers on board.

"Rescuers have retrieved 36 bodies so far," state transport minister Subhendu Adhikari told AFP news agency.

Nine passengers were taken to hospital, he said. Reports say a number of people are still missing.

The state has ordered an inquiry into the incident. </s> The truck was transporting worshipers from three small towns to a local church when it crashed on Sunday in the remote West Khasi Hills district in the state of Meghalaya, Indian authorities said.

"The survivors have told us that the truck driver was rash and lost control of the vehicle," police superintendent Sylvester Nongtnger told the AFP news agency. "After it overturned, many people fell into the deep gorge in this hilly region," he added.

Local officials said that the crash killed 16 people and injured more than 50 others.

"We rescued everyone from the accident spot and rushed them to hospital, but many of the survivors have serious injuries," Nongtnger said.

State official Arun Kembhavi said that the driver apparently lost control while speeding in a sharp bend, causing him to hit a concrete barricade.

Victims of the crash were hospitalized in the nearby town of Nongstoin

India's roads are among the most dangerous in the world, with poorly maintained traffic connections, malfunctioning vehicles, and reckless drivers causing more than 150,000 deaths every year. The nation's massive railway network is also beset by problems.

Last month, a school bus collided with a truck in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, killing 13 people, including 12 children.

dj/tj (AFP,AP) </s> At least 36 people were killed in eastern India's West Bengal state early Monday after a speeding passenger bus swerved off a bridge and plunged into a river, police said.

Initial investigations and eyewitness accounts said the bus driver, who also died in the accident, lost control while trying to overtake another vehicle on the bridge.

The bus crashed into the bridge's side railing before plummeting 12 meters (40 feet) into the local Bhairav river.

"Rescuers have retrieved 36 bodies so far. Nine passengers have been hospitalized," state's transport minister Subhendu Adhikari told AFP.

Rescue workers believe that there were more than 50 passengers on the bus at the time of the accident.

The rescue work at the accident site in Murshidabad district, around 187 miles (300 kilometers) from the state capital Kolkata, was ongoing late Monday evening.

"We fear that some of the passengers were swept away as glass windows of the vehicle broke (on impact)," Adhikari said.

The victims include at-least nine women and four children.

The bus lay submerged on the riverbed till emergency workers dragged it to a riverbank.

The rescue workers then used steel cutters to cut open the mangled vehicle and retrieve victims' bodies.

At least 32 people were killed in another road accident after a bus plunged into a river in western Rajasthan state this December.

India has some of the world's deadliest roads.

More than 150,000 people are killed each year with most accidents blamed on poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving. </s> NEW DELHI, April 29 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people were killed and 25 others injured in a collision between a truck and a bus in India's Madhya Pradesh state Sunday, police said.

The accident occurred in Mandsaur district, 350 km from the central state's capital Bhopal.

"The collision took place this morning when the speeding truck crashed into the passenger bus carrying some 40 people, including a driver and a conductor," a police official said.

While seven passengers of the bus died in the impact of the crash, those injured have been admitted to a local hospital where the condition of three are said to be serious, he added.

Eye-witnesses told police that the truck was travelling at high speed and the accident occurred when its driver lost control of the vehicle.

However, a probe has been ordered into the incident, the official said.

"We have booked the truck and bus driver for rash and negligent driving. While the bus driver sustained injuries, a manhunt has been launched to track down the truck driver," he added.

India has the highest number of road fatalities in the world. Road accidents occur mostly due to poor driving or badly maintained roads and vehicles. Enditem </s> Kolkata: At least 36 people were killed after a packed bus crashed through the railing of a bridge and fell into a canal in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district on Monday morning.

The accident occurred at Balirghat under the Daulatabad police station area around 6 am when the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) bus was going from Shikarpur in Nadia district to Malda, police said.

“Bus has been lifted, total 36 dead bodies were fished out. For the time being, we have wind up the rescue operation but search will be carried out again tomorrow “, SP Murshidabad Mukesh Kumar told reporters.

As per officials the death includes two children.

Alleging delay in rescue operations, angry local people set a police vehicle on fire and vandalised two others. Police lobbed tear gas shells and also resorted to lathicharge to control the situation.

Terming the incident as “sad”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia for the next of the kin of the deceased. </s> MUMBAI: A bus carrying university workers plunged off a mountain road into a valley in western India on Saturday killing 33 people, police said.

Only one passenger is believed to have survived the accident in Raigad district of Maharashtra state.

The bus was taking staff of Dapoli Agriculture University to the popular hill station of Mahabaleshwar for a picnic, a senior Raigad district administrator, Vijay Suryawanshi, told AFP.

"We have confirmed 33 deaths and only one person managed to survive the bus crash.

Our team is trying to recover the bodies," Anupam Srivastava, commander of India''s National Disaster Relief Force, told AFP.

"The surviving passenger managed to alert officials about the deaths and the crash," he added.

Police said the slippery mountain terrain where the latest accident took place made the road a danger.

Accidents on India''s notorious roads claim the lives of more than 150,000 people each year.

Most accidents are blamed on poor roads, badly-maintained vehicles and reckless driving.

Earlier this month, 48 people were killed and many others badly injured in northern India when an overcrowded bus hurtled into a gorge in the Himalayan foothills.
An SUV and a bus collide in Marishda, East Midnapore, West Bengal, India, killing the SUV's six occupants.