Over 50 people, including seven children, were killed in a bus accident in the southern Indian state Telangana's Jagtiyal district early Tuesday. The state-owned Road Transport Corporation bus was reportedly carrying about 75 people when it skidded off the road and fell into a valley.

Officials said the bus' break failure could be one of the reason for the accident, according to local media. The people, packed inside the bus, were traveling back from pilgrim destination Anjaneya Swamy temple atop Kondagattu Hills, about 118 miles from city of Hyderabad.

Senior officials and rescue team arrived at the scene and tried to retrieve the bodies of the passengers from the valley. The accident left the bus completely mangled with the steering wheel, and engine box damaged, local media NDTV reported.

The bus had overturned four times before it fell into the valley, media reports said. A policeman told local media Hindustan Times most of the deaths were due to suffocation as the passengers fell on one another.

The people injured in the accident were taken to nearby hospital. Some people also suffered critical injuries.

​Telangana's Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced financial assistance of nearly $6,000 each to the families of the dead.

Road transport authorities said standing instructions were in place about standard operating procedure and protocols to avoid accidents on the valley road.

Bus accidents on such roads were common in India as in several cases, overcrowded buses failed to follow protocols, leading to several deaths.

Overcrowded bus
An overcrowded bus, with capacity of 56 people carrying 150 passengers, is seen in the Indian state of Rajasthan, Jan. 20, 1993. REUTERS/Sunil Malhotra
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