As many as 30 people were killed and 11 others injured after the bus they were travelling in fell into a gorge in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district on Tuesday night. A rescue team evacuated five people from the 500-foot-deep gorge on Wednesday morning. Eleven bodies have been recovered so far.

The accident took place around 9.45 pm when the Guwahati-boud bus was near the Sonapur Mandir, about 60 km from the district headquarters in Khliehriat. Eyewitnesses said the driver lost control of the vehicle, which was moving at a speed of 90 km an hour and skidded off the road near the temple.

“The gorge is so deep that the chances of their survival are slim,” District Additional Superintendent of Police Lethindra Sangma told Hindustan Times. Poor network and connectivity coupled with rain have made rescue work more difficult.

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"We have not been able to ascertain the cause of the accident. The area where the bus fell is dark and our men are using ropes to climb down. Our efforts are on,” District Superintendent of Police Spill Thamar said.

A similar accident had taken place on January 26 this year in which 11 people died.