Truck plunges into river in MP; 29 dead

The overcrowded truck lost control while negotiating a narrow bridge and plummetted into the river in Hoshangabad.

At least 29 people were killed and 40 injured on Wednesday when a truck carrying farm workers plunged into a river in Madhya Pradesh, officials said.

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The overcrowded truck lost control while negotiating a narrow bridge and plummetted into the river in Hoshangabad, 80 kilometres (48 miles) from the state capital Bhopal, district administrator KK Singh said.

"The accident occurred when the truck driver lost control while avoiding a head-on collision with another vehicle on the bridge," Singh said on the telephone from Hoshangabad.

The victims were farm workers travelling from the village of Bankhedi to nearby Pipariya town when the crash occurred, he said, adding that 15 of the injured where hospitalised in a critical condition.