22 dead after India pilgrim bus falls into gorge

• Bus carrying 30 people to remote Hindu pilgrimage site crashes.
• Rescue workers still looking for missing passenger and death toll may rise.
• Poorly maintained Himalayan roads contribute to high number of accidents in India.

According to officials, at least 22 passengers dead, seven others were critically injured, and one was missing after a bus in northern India crashed into a gorge on Sunday.

The bus was carrying 30 people including the driver to Yamunotri, the remote Hindu pilgrimage site in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, when it went off the road in the evening.

The accident happened in Uttarkashi, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the state capital Dehradun, and the local control room confirmed 22 people dead.

Read more: Increasing residential segregation of Muslims, Dalits in India

“The injured persons have been rushed to the nearby medical facilities,” district police superintendent Arpan Yaduvanshi told AFP.

Yaduvanshi added that the rescue workers were still looking for a missing passenger and the death toll “may increase further”.

The picturesque Uttarakhand has some of the holiest Hindu sites and receives millions of pilgrims each year, but has a poorly maintained and notoriously dangerous network of Himalayan roads.

India’s home minister Amit Shah said that he was in touch with the local authorities about the ongoing relief work for the “very sad” incident.

About 150,000 people are killed each year in traffic accidents in India, according to the government.

Excessive speeding and failure to use seatbelts or crash helmets are two major contributors to the high number of fatalities.

Read more: Indians risking life for water