Published: Sunday July 5, 2009 MYT 12:00:00 PM

At least nine killed in bus accident in eastern India

NEW DELHI (AP): A bus overtaking another vehicle at high speed as they crossed a bridge in eastern India crashed through the railings and fell nearly 30 feet (9 meters) onto a railroad track, leaving at least nine people dead, a news report said.

Another 40 passengers were injured Saturday, 12 of them seriously, in the accident in Howrah in Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal state, the Press Trust of India news agency quoted Sanghamitra Ghosh, a district magistrate, as saying.

The bus driver lost control as he tried to maneuver the vehicle around another, and the bus smashed through the bridge railings and plummeted to the ground, witness Atanu told the CNN-IBN television channel. Atanu uses one name.

The roof of the bus was torn off, and the wreckage was strewn around the rail tracks. Shoes, sneakers and water bottles lay scattered in the area.

Ghosh said local residents helped police to pull passengers from the mangled vehicle.

Deadly road accidents are common in India, often caused by aging vehicles, overloading and reckless driving on poorly maintained roads.

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