Bus plunges from bridge killing 37 and injuring 15 while travelling overnight from Indian beach resort state of Goa to Mumbai

A bus packed with passengers crashed through a guard rail and fell off a bridge in western India killing at least 37 people and injuring another 15, police said.

The overnight bus was carrying passengers from the beach resort state of Goa to Mumbai when it crashed in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, said Mahendra Singh Pardeshi, a police official present at the site.

The area is about 125 miles south of Mumbai and is a renowned accident blackspot. Driver Santaji Kailash Kirdatt, 35, was among those injured in the pre-dawn tragedy.

The bus had a capacity of 55 passengers, but Pardeshi said it was not known how many people were on board.

Early, blurred video of the accident showed that the bus broke through the guard rail on the British era stone bridge and fell several metres to the bank of the Jagbudi River below, where the locals regularly cremate their dead.

Eleven of the deceased are from Mumbai. This is said to be the biggest fatality on the accident-prone NH-17 route.

The Times of India reported that surviving passengers reportedly told the police that the driver had begun to drive fast after the bus crossed Kudal in the neighbouring Sindhudurg district.

Superintendent Deepak Pandey, of Ratnagiri Police, said: 'We have arrested the bus driver for rash and negligent driving.

'He has not suffered any serious injuries. We have sent his blood and urine samples to test if he was driving under the influence of liquor.

'Kirdatt was going to end his shift a little ahead of the accident spot in Khed, as a second driver was supposed to take over for the remaining journey to Mumbai.

'Unfortunately, the bus crashed here. The cleaner was killed on the spot.'

Police officials added that the bridge approach is accident-prone because of the slight curve towards the left side of the road.

Just two days earlier, a truck had also lost control before the same bridge and hit a hard spot. However, the driver managed to stop the truck before it could hurtle down.