20000309

Accidents kill 51 in India

CHANDIGARH: Fifty-one people were killed and several hurt in two traffic accidents in the north Indian State of Himachal Pradesh, officials said on Wednesday.

A bus carrying a wedding party on Tuesday night fell into a ditch near Sarahan, 80 km from Chandigarh, the joint capital of the northern states of Punjab and Haryana, killing 41 people.

Eleven people were injured, police said.

In another accident on Tuesday night, 10 people were killed when a train rammed into a bus at an unmanned railway crossing at Raka Ka Bagh, near the hill town of Dharamsala.

Police said the bus driver had misjudged the speed of the approaching train.-Reuuters