The bus with some 50 people on board was travelling from the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, to Delhi, when it mounted the divider and fell into a pit between two lanes of Yamuna Expressway at around 4:00 local time am Monday.

A video of the rescue operation shows the bus half-submerged in the water. Police said that about 15 or 16 people were pulled out alive from the wreckage and taken to hospitals. The rescuers used tractors to lift the bus from the water, hoping to find survivor in the soaked debris.

A preliminary investigation indicated that the driver lost control of the vehicle after he nodded off at the wheel.

“It appears that the driver was sleepy while driving. Till now 29 people have been declared dead and a rescue operations is underway,” said district magistrate of Agra,  NG Ravi Kumar, as cited by News18.

The Uttar Pradesh government announced it would pay compensations to the families of the deceased.

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