Bus falls into pond, killing 8 children in India

A speeding bus veered off the road and fell into a pond on Tuesday, killing at least eight schoolchildren in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

Local villagers fished out eight bodies from the pond next to the road in the small town of Raghavpuram, said S.A. Huda, state director-general of police.

Television channels reported that up to 14 children died in the crash as the children were being brought home from school.

Police and volunteers helped rescue some of the children from the bus, which was partly submerged. There were at least 40 children in the bus when it crashed, Huda said.

Raghavpuram is about 150 miles (250 kilometers) east of the state capital, Hyderabad.

India has the world's highest road death toll, with more than 110,000 people dying each year in accidents commonly caused by speeding, overcrowding and poor vehicle and road maintenance, police say.

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