At least 21 pilgrims died and unspecified number of them were injured when the bus in which they were travelling fell into a gorge at Akhnoor, in Jammu and Kashmir Thursday afternoon.
The number of casualties were feared to increase. The exact number of injured could not be known immediately as rescue operation was still on.
The bus loaded with 70 pilgrims had started its journey from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh.
The pilgrims had plans to visit several religious spots before reaching Vaishno Devi temple.
Atleast two persons jumped and saved their lives after sensing the impending danger.
Describing the accident they told a channel reporter that the driver could not control the steering properly and he pressed the clutch instead of the brake.
Showing their injuries to media they said police had arrived within minutes and they started the rescue. The army too rushed to the spot.
A couple of days ago another such bus had met similar fate at Ambala.
Several passenger had died in this accident. This bus was also heading to Vaishno Devi temple from Uttar Pradesh.
