The bus with 50 passengers hit a divider on the Yamuna Expressway and fell into a drain near Agra city.

A bus with 50 passengers has skidded off a highway near the Indian city of Agra, killing at least 29 people, according to police.

The driver was suspected to have fallen asleep on Monday before the bus hit a divider and fell into a gap between two flyovers on the Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh state, police said.

The vehicle was travelling from New Delhi to Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, when the accident happened about 4.15am near Agra, about 200km from New Delhi.

It fell more than 12 metres into a drain below the road, crushing the top deck of the bus, complicating rescue efforts, police said.

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“Twenty-nine persons have died and 18 others are injured,” said the Agra district magistrate, NG Ravi Kumar, at the scene of the accident.

The 165km Yamuna Expressway from Delhi to Agra is India‘s longest six-lane highway and about 900 people been killed on the road since it opened in 2012, according to authorities.

More than 150,000 people a year are killed on India’s roads, which are notorious for poor infrastructure and speeding drivers.