(dpa) - At least 42 people were feared killed after a bus from a state-run school fell into the Narmada canal on Wednesday in Vadodara district in the western Indian state Gujarat, reported local police and state officials.
"Forty-two bodies, most of them of children, have so far been fished out from the canal," said Amit Vishwkarama, deputy superindent of police of rural Vadodara.
Four children were rescued from the 60-feet-deep canal, said Vijay Nehra, Vadaodara's district collector, reported news agency PTI.
Rescue operations are underway, said officials.
The accident took place early in the morning in Vadodara district, about 280 kilometers south-east of state capital Gandhinagar, after the driver of the bus lost control, said police.
Six children were killed in 2006 when a school bus fell into a canal in neighbouring state Harayana.
Last December at least 19 people died in the northern state of Punjab when a school bus collided with a train.
