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7 die in India as bus plunges into flooded canal

  • Story Highlights
  • 7 die as bus carrying 40 passengers sinks in overflowing canal in eastern India
  • 7-year-old girl and her mother among the dead
  • Bus driver ignored warnings from his passengers about flooding in canal
By Harmeet Shah Singh
CNN
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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A bus carrying about 40 passengers sank in an overflowing canal in eastern India, killing seven of them, officials said Tuesday.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been hit by flooding in eastern India in recent weeks.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been hit by flooding in eastern India in recent weeks.

Among the dead were a 7-year-old girl and her mother, said Paresh Chandra Nayak, the district magistrate of Nayagarh, in Orissa state.

The bus driver ignored warnings from his passengers about flooding in the canal ahead and kept driving Monday night, Nayak told CNN.

Water swamped the bus as it crossed a bridge on the canal, he said.

Authorities and locals rescued most of the passengers, Nayak added.

Nayagarh has been pounded with seasonal rains over the past couple of days.

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