Young children were among the 16 killed when a school bus plunged into a gorge in India.
Another 20 were left injured after the bus - which was reportedly packed way beyond capacity - launched off a hillside and tumbled 100ft down a ravine in India's Jammu and Kashmir state this morning.
The death toll is likely to rise as several of the injured persons were admitted to hospital in critical condition, police said.
The majority of the victims were students of a government school in the northern region.
Two young lads aged five and 14, two teen girls, and a woman were among those who tragically died at about 8.30am Wednesday.
The minibus veered off the road when the driver lost control of the wheel, reports claimed.
It's also been claimed the bus was carrying far too many passengers when it rolled down the Himalayan ravine.
The initial death toll was 11, but rose to 16 when another five people tragically died in hospital.
A policeman at the scene said: "The death toll is likely to go up in view of the critical injuries to nine passengers."
Police, armed forces and locals rushed to the scene in a major rescue operation after the crash.
India's Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha spoke of his grief and expressed condolences to the families of the bereaved.
He said: "Saddened by loss of lives due to a road accident in Sawjian, Poonch," he wrote on Twitter. "Condolences to bereaved families. May the injured recover soon."
The governor said that the victims' next of kin would receive a five lakh (£5,441) payment, about £1,000 more than the country's average annual salary, as compensation for the tragedy.
The accident mirrors another bus crash in India in July when 16 passengers including schoolkids were killed in similar circumstances.
It's thought that another 25 people were injured when the private bus tumbled over a cliff in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, India and fell into a deep gorge.
The injured were rushed to hospital for treatment, according to local journalists.
The bus was carrying 45 passengers at the time of the incident, reports said.
TV9 Editor Aditya Raj Kaul tweeted: "Terrible news. Over 16 killed including school children and 25 injured as a private bus rolled off a cliff in Jangla area of Sainj valley on Neoli-Shansher road of Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. Injured are being shifted to local hospitals, rescue teams from Kullu at spot."
Last week, a dad died alongside his daughter and her teen friend in a tragic horror car crash as they returned from a birthday party in Brazil.
The accident happened on Saturday night as they were returning from a celebratory birthday party in the city of Curitiba.
Braulio dos Santos Silva, 54, his daughter Evelyn dos Santos Silva, 20, and her friend Kesya Cristina Araujo dos Santos, 19, were on their way back from a bar when the tragedy happened.
They had been celebrating Keysa's birthday when the car Braulio was driving smashed into a tree.
The impact was so severe that one of the young women was thrown from the vehicle, said the Fire Brigade.
