A sightseeing bus overturned and plunged into a gorge, killing 22 Indian tourists and injuring 12 others who were visiting a town at the foot of the Himalayas, AP quoted Indian officials as saying on Thursday. Among the 22 killed were 13 children, said Mahendra Singh Tamta, spokesman for Uttarakhand state in northern India. Four of 12 people hospitalized were in serious condition. The private bus was one of eight hired to take Haridwar city traders on a picnic in Mussoorie, a popular tourist town surrounded by green hills and snowy mountains about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the state capital, Dehradun. The bus was carrying 52 people back to Haridwar late Wednesday when it flipped over at a curve in the road and rolled down the gorge, landing upside down, Tamta said. Using ropes and a ladder, local villagers and government rescue officials climbed down into the gorge, where they worked for hours to bring up the injured and dead. The driver fled the scene but was arrested Thursday, Tamta said. A witness said passengers had asked the driver to slow down before the crash, he said. -- SPA
