MUMBAI: A bus carrying university workers plunged off a mountain road into a valley in western India on Saturday killing 33 people, police said.
Only one passenger is believed to have survived the accident in Raigad district of Maharashtra state.
The bus was taking staff of Dapoli Agriculture University to the popular hill station of Mahabaleshwar for a picnic, a senior Raigad district administrator, Vijay Suryawanshi, told AFP.
“We have confirmed 33 deaths and only one person managed to survive the bus crash. Our team is trying to recover the bodies,” Anupam Srivastava, commander of India’s National Disaster Relief Force, told AFP.
“The surviving passenger managed to alert officials about the deaths and the crash,” he added.
Police said the slippery mountain terrain where the latest accident took place made the road a danger.
Accidents on India’s notorious roads claim the lives of more than 150,000 people each year. Most accidents are blamed on poor roads, badly-maintained vehicles and reckless driving.
Earlier this month, 48 people were killed and many others badly injured in northern India when an overcrowded bus hurtled into a gorge in the Himalayan foothills.
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33 killed as Indian bus plunges off mountain road
33 killed as Indian bus plunges off mountain road
- A bus carrying university workers plunged off a mountain road into a valley in western India on Saturday killing 33 people.
- Only one passenger is believed to have survived the accident in Raigad district of Maharashtra state.
Ethiopia begins $12.5 billion construction of ‘Africa’s biggest airport’
BISHOFTU: Ethiopian Airlines on Saturday officially started a $12.5 billion construction project for what officials say will be Africa’s biggest airport when completed in 2030 in the Ethiopian town of Bishoftu.
The state-owned airline got the contract to design the four-runway airport in the town located around 45 km (28 miles) southeast of Addis Ababa.
“Bishoftu International Airport will be the largest aviation infrastructure project in Africa’s history,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali said on X. The airport will have space to park 270 planes and capacity for 110 million passengers a year.
That is more than four times the capacity of Ethiopia’s current main airport, which will reach its limits on existing traffic in the next two-to-three years, Abiy said.
The airline’s Infrastructure Development & Planning Director Abraham Tesfaye told reporters it would fund 30 percent and lenders would finance the rest.
It has already allocated $610 million for earthworks, which are due to be completed in one year, he said at the site, with the main contractors scheduled to start work in August 2026.
The project was initially billed at $10 billion.
Other creditors include the African Development Bank, which last August said it would lend $500 million and lead efforts to raise $8.7 billion.
“Lenders from Middle East, Europe, China and USA have shown strong interest to finance the project,” Abraham said.
Ethiopian Airlines is Africa’s biggest carrier. It added six extra routes in 2024/25, while revenues are also expanding.
The state-owned airline got the contract to design the four-runway airport in the town located around 45 km (28 miles) southeast of Addis Ababa.
“Bishoftu International Airport will be the largest aviation infrastructure project in Africa’s history,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali said on X. The airport will have space to park 270 planes and capacity for 110 million passengers a year.
That is more than four times the capacity of Ethiopia’s current main airport, which will reach its limits on existing traffic in the next two-to-three years, Abiy said.
The airline’s Infrastructure Development & Planning Director Abraham Tesfaye told reporters it would fund 30 percent and lenders would finance the rest.
It has already allocated $610 million for earthworks, which are due to be completed in one year, he said at the site, with the main contractors scheduled to start work in August 2026.
The project was initially billed at $10 billion.
Other creditors include the African Development Bank, which last August said it would lend $500 million and lead efforts to raise $8.7 billion.
“Lenders from Middle East, Europe, China and USA have shown strong interest to finance the project,” Abraham said.
Ethiopian Airlines is Africa’s biggest carrier. It added six extra routes in 2024/25, while revenues are also expanding.
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