AT LEAST 22 PEOPLE WERE KILLED WHEN THEIR BUS PLUNGED INTO A DEEP GORGE IN THE NORTHERN INDIAN HILL STATE OF UTTARANCHAL SATURDAY, NEWS REPORTS SAID, ACCORDING TO DPA. THE BUS, WITH 34 PASSENGERS, WAS ON ITS WAY FROM STATE CAPITAL DEHRADUN TO THE TOWN OF UTTARKASHI ABOUT 90 KILOMETRES NORTH WHEN THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED, IANS NEWS AGENCY REPORTED. THE DRIVER LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE WHICH PLUNGED INTO THE 200- METRE-DEEP GORGE, A POLICE OFFICIAL SAID. TWENTY-TWO BODIES WERE RETRIEVED FROM THE GORGE TILL THE EVENING WHILE A SEARCH WAS ON FOR THE REMAINING PASSENGERS WHO ARE FEARED DEAD, THE POLICE SAID. THE OFFICIAL SAID EIGHT PASSENGERS WERE RESCUED, BUT ONE OF THEM DIED IN A HOSPITAL AT UTTARKASHI TOWN, ABOUT 160 KILOMETRES NORTH OF DEHRADUN.
