The bus being pulled out of the canal in Murshidabad. Photo: Twitter/ Samrat Mukherjee

A West Bengal state-run bus carrying sleeping passengers met with a terrible fate early on Monday morning after it ran through a bridge in Murshidabad and tumbled into a canal. So far, at least 42 people have been reported dead.

The bus, jampacked with at least 50-60 riders, was travelling from Nadia district's Karimpur to Berhampore in Murshidabad when it hit a bridge, broke right through it, and fell into the canal.

Part of the bridge where the bus went through. Photo: Twitter/ Samrat Mukherjee

Locals were the first to come to the rescue after this accident took place. Delay on the police's part to react to the situation caused the locals to lash out in protest. Police vans, fire tenders, etc were trashed, after which police resorted to firing and tear gas to bring the situation under control.

42 OF 50+ DEAD, MORE THAN 10 YET TO BE IDENTIFIED

Rescue mission officials said it took almost eight hours to locate and pull out the bus from the canal. Bodies retrieved from the canal and the bus were kept in Murshidabad Medical College morgue, where family members came by for identification.

"Of the 36 dead, the bodies of 25 were identified," West Bengal Transport Minister Subhendu Adhikary had said earlier.

The rescue mission was called off at around 9.45PM last night because of poor visibility, and resumed earlier today.

"It is very dark and quite cold out here. We tried to continue the rescue operations but the visibility was so low that it cannot be continued," said a senior officer of the state disaster management team.

Bus being pulled out of the canal. Photo: Twitter/ Samrat Mukherjee

The rescue team comprises of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Management team, and local police and administration.

WHAT CAUSED THE ACCIDENT?

Initial probe suggests the bus must have lost control and fell off the bridge while its passengers were still asleep.There are also claims that the bus driver was speaking on his phone when the accident took place.

Speaking of the accident, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "The bus driver might have been unmindful. There was fog also."

CM Mamata Banerjee has promised a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the family of those killed in the accident, that of Rs 1 lakh to those seriously injured, and Rs 50,000 to the other injured people.

PM Modi reached out on Twitter to express his condolence to the families of the deceased. Other leaders of also expressed their grief.

Anguished by the bus accident in West Bengal’s Murshidabad. My thoughts and prayers are with those who lost their loved ones: PM @narendramodi — PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 30, 2018

Very sad to learn about the horrific bus accident in Murshidabad, West Bengal. Condolences to the bereaved families and wishing an early recovery to those injured #PresidentKovind — President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) January 30, 2018

Shocked and pained at the loss of lives in an accident in Murshidabad in West Bengal. My prayers are with the families of the deceased. May god provide them the strength to tide through this crisis! — ShivrajSingh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) January 30, 2018

[With inputs from PTI]