33 passengers die when bus crashes into gorge in India

July 28 (UPI) -- A bus fell into a gorge Saturday afternoon in India, killing all but one of the 34 passengers, who were employees of Dapoli Agriculture University.

The crash occurred in Ambenali Ghat near Poladpur town in Raigad district on the way to Mahabaleshwar for a two-day trip, the Indian Times reported.

Prakash Sawant Desai, assistant superintendent with the university, managed to jump out of the bus, climbed up the slope and took the phone of a passerby to summon help.

Sawant told the local authorities the bus skidded at a muddy spot on the Ambenali Ghat road and fell about 500 feet down in the 800-feet deep gorge.

"The bus veered to the left and fell into the gorge before we could understand what was happening," he told reporters. "Trees arrested the fall someway down. I had managed to jump out in time. I climbed my way up somehow."

Forty people originally were to take the trip but some opted out because the bus was too small to accommodate all of them, he said.

The government announced a compensation of $5,822 for the kin of the deceased.

"Pained by the loss of lives due to a bus accident in Maharashtra's Raigad district," Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on Twitter. "My condolences to those who lost their loved ones."