At least 25 people killed while a bus plunges into the Karnataka Canal

A private bus carrying passengers, mostly schoolchildren, fell on Saturday in a channel in Mandya district of Karnataka, killing at least 25 people, police said.

The bus was completely submerged after falling into Kanakanamaradi's VC channel in Pandavapura taluka, they added, adding that the bodies of 23 victims had been found.

Most of the victims are children, police sources said, adding that they were returning home after half a day of school.

The inconsolable parents of the victims, overcome with grief, followed while the rescue teams retrieved the bodies one after the other.

District authorities roped in a crane to get the bus out of the canal.

Police struggled to control the crowd as people living nearby invaded the scene of the accident. Residents said they saved three people before the police even reached them.

"I have just learned that a bus has fallen into a canal and that 25 people have died.It is the latest report to date," said Deputy Foreign Minister G Parameshwara. , expressing his sorrow at the tragedy.

Canceling all official commitments, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy rushed to where rescue operations were in full swing.