Eight children were killed and six injured when their school bus fell into a rivulet in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.

The bus, being operated by a private school, fell in the rivulet at Tungaram Vagu in Chandrugonda mandal of Khammam district.

"The bus was coming on a bridge. It seems the driver was new and inexperienced and lost control of the vehicle and the bus fell (in the rivulet). As of now, eight dead bodies are there. Around six were injured and they are there in the hospital", a police official said.

Water in the rivulet was being pumped out and the exact number of dead would be known subsequently, he said.

Rescue operation and investigation were on and further details would be known later, he added.

Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the accident site as the parents and relatives of the deceased children wept inconsolably.

Expressing shock over the accident, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy directed the Khammam district collector and other officials to offer all the necessary assistance to the needy.

The Chief Minister also directed the collector to inquire into the incident and submit a detailed report, a release from the Chief Minister's Office said.

This is the second incident of a school bus falling into a water body in Andhra Pradesh in the last one month.

Late last month, a school bus fell into a canal in East Godavari district in which two children died.