Dozens of people are feared dead after floods swept a passenger bus into a gorge in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The bus was carrying about 50 members of a wedding party, including the bride and the groom, reports said.

The flood waters are surging and rescue efforts are under way, top police official Owais Ahmad told the BBC.

The region is suffering from its worst flooding in 22 years, which has claimed at least nine lives since Tuesday.

Road accidents are common in India and last year, more than 138,000 people died, according to government figures.

Thursday's accident took place in Rajouri district in the Jammu region.

Officials said rescuers were searching for the bus, but they had not been able to locate it in the flood waters.

"Rescue teams are there, including a column of the army," news agency AFP quoted inspector general of police Rajesh Kumar as saying.

"Air force helicopters are also ready, but heavy rains and a strong current in the stream make it difficult," he said, adding that some of the passengers on board might have escaped to safety.

Incessant rains have triggered landslides and flooded many parts of Indian-administered Kashmir, the BBC's Riyaz Masroor reports from Srinagar.

Authorities have declared a "disaster alert" in the region and all schools and colleges are closed and exams have been postponed, our correspondent adds.
(BBC)