Baripada (Odisha):

Three persons were killed and 14 injured on Saturday after a bus in which they were travelling hit a truck from behind in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, police said.

The accident took place around 5.30 am on National Highway 18 near Budikhmari Square under the Betanati Police Station limits, when the bus with around 20 pilgrims on board rammed into the commercial vehicle, a senior officer said.

The bus was going towards Gaya from Hyderabad when the accident occurred.

“One of the victims has been identified as bus driver Uday Singh of Charminar area of Hyderabad,” the officer said.

The injured passengers were taken to Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital, Baripada.

Additional District Medical Officer Bijay Kumar Das said the driver died on the spot while two others succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment.

Fourteen injured people are under treatment at the medical college, he said.

The truck driver escaped from the spot after the accident, the officer added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Nagpur:

Two jawans of the Indian Army died after a speeding private bus collided with an auto-rickshaw at Kanhan River Bridge in Nagpur on Sunday evening, an official said.

Meanwhile, seven people, including six jawans and an auto driver, were injured in the accident.

“Two jawans of the Indian Army died and 7 including 6 jawans and an auto driver injured after a speeding private bus collided with an auto-rickshaw at Kanhan River Bridge in Nagpur, today, evening,” Pramod Pore, Police Inspector, Old Kamptee PS said.

Further details are awaited.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Johannesburg:

A passenger bus plunged off a bridge into a ravine in South Africa on Thursday, killing at least 45 people, the transport ministry said.

One person was also seriously injured in the crash of the vehicle heading from Botswana to Moria in the north of the country, the ministry said in a statement.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Venice:

At least 21 people, including two children and foreigners, were killed Tuesday and several others wounded when a bus running on methane plunged off a bridge in Venice and caught fire.

“A tragedy has struck our community this evening”, mayor Luigi Brugnaro wrote on Facebook, describing the site of the crash as “an apocalyptic scene”.

“The provisional toll is at least 21 fatalities and over 20 people hospitalised,” said Luca Zaia, the governor of the Venice region, deploring a “tragedy of enormous proportions”.

“Efforts are on to extract and identify the bodies,” he said. “The victims and the wounded include people of several nationalities, not just Italians”.

The bus was returning from Venice’s historic centre to a camping site when the accident occurred around 7:30 pm (1730 GMT).

Firefighters said the bus caught fire after careering off a bridge straddling a railway line and linking the Mestre and Marghera districts of the northern Italian city.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her “profound condolences”.

“I am in contact with mayor Luigi Brugnaro and (Transport) Minister Matteo Salvini in order to follow the news of this tragedy,” she said in a statement.

Salvini said the cause of the accident could be the driver suddenly taking sick or becoming unwell.

According to Il Corriere della Sera newspaper, the bus swerved off the bridge after smashing through the barrier and fell near railway tracks about 30 metres (100 feet) below.

The newspaper said it caught fire after hitting some power lines.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said, “The aggravating factor was methane and the fire this spread rapidly”.

“I fear that the death toll will rise,” he added.

In July 2018, a bus carrying a group of some 50 holidaymakers back to Naples fell off a viaduct near the city killing 40 people in all.   

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)