death toll in the Murshidabad bus accident in Bengal rises to 38

Indian police rescue people after a bus accident at the Ghogra Canal in Murshidabad district, around 187 miles from Kolkata on January 29, 2018. At least 36 people were killed in eastern India's West Bengal state early January 29 after a speeding passenger bus swerved off a bridge and plunged into a river, police said. Pic/ AFP

With the recovery of two more bodies by rescue workers on Tuesday, the death toll in the Murshidabad bus accident in Bengal rose to 38, an official said. On Monday, 36 bodies were recovered from the Gobra canal in which the bus had plunged after crashing through the Nalini Buske bridge railing in Balirghat area.

Both the bodies were being sent to the Baharampur Medical College and Hospital (BMCH) for post mortem, the official said. The Malda-bound public transport bus fell into the canal around 6 a.m. on Monday. After hours of intense effort, the bus was fully fished out of the canal with the help of four cranes. Hundreds of villagers and anxious relatives of the passengers had gathered on the canal banks.

Nine injured passengers were admitted to BMCH. Police were yet to confirm the number of passengers who were in the bus at the time of the accident. But an injured had said close to 50 people were in it when they started the journey from Shikarpur in Nadia district.

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