Twenty-nine people were killed and nine others injured when a bus they were travelling in skidded off the road and rolled into a 500-feet deep gorge in remote Sonapur village in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district, police said today.
Police had earlier in the day said that 30 people were killed and 11 injured in the mishap.
"At least 29 persons have died and nine others critically injured in the ill-fated bus. The number of casualty could increase," district police chief Spill Thamar told PTI.
The Guwahati-bound bus from Assam's Silchar district skidded while crossing a narrow portion on NH 44 at Sonapur at around 10 pm last night, the police said, adding the spot is near a bridge on Lukha river.
So far seven bodies have been fished out using boats as the gorge is near Lukha river and it is impossible to carry the bodies up.
The bodies were then taken to Khliehriat community health centre where only one of them has been identified so far, Thamar said.
Earlier reports had said 11 bodies had been salvaged from the accident site.
He said four persons were rescued in operations last night itself, while five others were rescued early this morning. They were rushed to North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences in Shillong, Jowai Civil Hospital and Khliehriat community health centre.
Most of those injured were unconscious and in need of intensive medical care, the SP said.
The rescue operations to retrieve the bodies have, however, been called off due to bad weather conditions and will be resumed tomorrow, police said.
Thamar, when asked, said bad road condition and absence of proper fencing along the narrow stretches were the reasons behind the tragedy.
In January, at least 10 people were killed when another bus met a similar fate in the area.
In August 2012, 31 persons were killed and 27 others critically injured when an overloaded night bus bound for Tripura fell into a gorge in the area.
