AlQa'dah 21, 1434, September 27, 2013, SPA -- Twenty-one people were killed when their bus skidded off the road and plunged into a 500-feet-deep gorge in the northern Indian hill state of Himachal Pradesh Friday, dpa reported. The accident took place in Sirmaur district about 150 kilometres south of state capital Shimla. The small bus was carrying people from Ucha Tikkar village to the Hindu shrine of Renukaji, district magistrate Vikas Labroo said. Nineteen bodies had been recovered from the wreckage of the bus and two passengers succumbed to their injuries later, Labroo said. The dead included three women. The cause of the accident is not yet known. Tough driving conditions in the mountains and poorly maintained vehicles are blamed for accidents that claim hundreds of lives in Himachal Pradesh ever year. More than 110,000 people are killed in road crashes annually in India. -- SPA 14:42 LOCAL TIME 11:42 GMT تغريد
