(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-05 15:13

NEW DELHI -- Twenty persons including women and children were killed when a private bus fell into a canal in the Rajarhat area on the northeastern fringes of Kolkata on Friday afternoon. About 30 persons were injured and the condition of some is said to be critical.

According to a report from The Hindu, the bus veered into the Keshtopur canal at 2.20 p.m.. Locals rushed to the spot and removed the bodies trapped in the bus after prizing the flanks open and bending window rods. The bus was retrieved from the muddy waters with a crane at 4 p.m.

Divers of the Border Security Force brought out a few more bodies, a senior district official said. The canal gate was closed to prevent any person drifting in the waters.

Eyewitnesses said the bus skidded into the canal while trying to overtake another vehicle on VIP Road. They alleged that civic authorities were late in starting rescue operations.