At least nine children were killed after a school bus fell into a gorge on Tuesday in Kangsali village of Tehri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, ANI reported. Officials said that the children who had died were between the ages of four and 13 and were from the village where the accident occurred.

“The incident happened around 7.30 am but the SDRF [State Disaster Response Force] team received the information from the district control room at around 9 am after which a team rushed to the spot for search and rescue operation,” Hindustan Times quoted senior SDRF official Praveen Alok as saying. “The local administration and police were already present there and said two of the children had died on the spot.” The official further added that seven children died while undergoing treatment at the hospital.

“The incident occurred on the Pratap Nagar-Kangsali-Madan Negi motor road when the van was on its way to Madannegi,” PTI quoted Tehri District Magistrate V Shanmugam as saying. “Rest of the injured were taken to the District Hospital. Rescue operations are under way.”

In another accident in the state, five were killed and many feared trapped after a boulder fell on a bus, carrying 11 people, at the Lambagad slide zone on Badrinath Highway in Chamoli district, ANI reported. Police officials have reached the location and rescue operation had been initiated.

More details are awaited.