By
The Associated Press
SRINAGAR, India - A bus carrying policemen plunged into a gorge in troubled Kashmir yesterday, killing at least 27 of the officers.
Press Trust of India news agency said the bus was carrying 40 policemen, and 27 bodies were recovered initially. The fate of the other 13 was not immediately known.
Police said the driver lost control of the bus, which fell 2,400 feet into a gorge at Baithi Chashma in the Doda district, a guerrilla stronghold 185 miles southeast of Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir state.
Government forces are observing a monthlong cease-fire against Islamic guerrillas in Kashmir as part of Prime Minister Atal Bihari's initiative to end an 11-year-old insurgency that has killed more than 30,000 people.
