Bus accident Death toll reached 44 after searchers overnight

The death toll from a bus accident in India's portion of Kashmir doubled to 44 after searchers recovered more bodies overnight, police said Friday.

Police, soldiers and local villagers searched through a thickly wooded hill terrain through the night, pulling out at least 22 more bodies of people killed in the accident Thursday, said Inspector General of Police S.P. Vaid.

An additional 42 passengers were injured as the "heavily overcrowded" bus veered out of control and plunged down a mountain road near the town of Tattapani, a town 165 kilometers (100 miles) north of Jammu, winter capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, Vaid said. Some of the injured passengers were in serious condition and had been taken to a hospital in Srinagar, the state's summer capital, Vaid said. The rescue operation took longer than normal because of difficult terrain, he said, reports the AP. I.L.