At least 16 dead in Bangladesh bus mishap

Police in Bangladesh say a bus packed with pilgrims has plunged off a bridge and at least 16 people died.

Police in Bangladesh say a bus packed with pilgrims has plunged off a bridge and at least 16 people died.

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Local police officer Ranjit Kumar Barua says the bus ran into a shallow, muddy ditch early Monday in Cox's Bazar district. That's 296 kilometers (185 miles) south of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka.

Barua said 16 bodies including children were recovered from the bus. Rescuers took another 15 injured people to a hospital. The rest of the occupants were not hurt.

He says the bus was carrying 43 people returning from a shrine of a local saint Mujibur Rahman Maizbhandari.

Bangladesh's government says road accidents kill about 10,000 people every year in the country. Crashes often are blamed on rash driving and faulty vehicles.