A passenger bus carrying dozens of members of a music troupe slid off a highway and fell into a gorge in western India on Saturday, killing 13 people and injuring 29 others, police said.

The bus was on its way to Mumbai, India's financial capital, in Maharashtra state, from Pune city, where the musicians held a performance, said Atul Zende, a police officer. The exact cause of the crash was not immediately known.

Zende said most of the passengers who died were part of the music troupe from Mumbai.

He said rescue workers pulled out the badly injured from the wreckage of the bus and sent them to a hospital.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed sorrow over the accident and announced monetary relief to the victims' families.

Deadly road accidents are common in India due to reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles. More than 110,000 people are killed every year in road accidents across India, according to police.

Source