MUMBAI: Five people were killed and 34 others injured when their speeding bus fell into a gorge in Maharashtra's Nandurbar district in the early hours of Wednesday, a police official said.
The accident took place at Kondaibari ghat around 3.
15 am when the private bus, going from Buldhana to Surat in Gujarat, tried to overtake another bus which was also heading to the same destination from Malkapur, he said.
While overtaking in the ghat section, the bus driver saw a truck coming from the opposite direction.
In an attempt to avoid a collision wit the truck, the bus driver lost the control over the wheels, he said.
As a result, the bus fell into the over 30-feet deep gorge, located around 370 km from here, the official said.
Three bus passengers, including a female, the vehicle's driver and cleaner died, Nandurbar Superintendent of Police Mahendra Pandit said.
The accident took place on the Surat-Kolkata National Highway (NH-6) where road work is going on, he said.
Only one lane of the highway is operational at the accident spot, the official said.
On getting information about the accident, police, local rescue teams and district administration officials rushed to the spot.
Out of the 34 injured people, 26 were admitted to Nandurbar Civil Hospital, four in a government-run hospital in Visarwadi, three were shifted to Surat and one was taken to a hospital in Jalgaon.
The last person was rescued from the bus at around 11.
30 am, the official said, adding that the victim, who received a minor foot injury, was stuck in the ill-fated vehicle for more than eight hours.
A case of accidental death was registered at Visarwadi police station, he added.