At least 40 people were killed on Sunday when a passenger bus crashed into a gorge in northern India, police said. "Forty-four people have died in the accident. At least three others are injured. The rescue work is still ongoing," Deepesh Chandra Kala, a disaster management officer from Pauri Garhwal district where the accident occurred, told AFP. "Rescue operations are on and we are still not sure about the final count of dead bodies," said a police official, who declined to be identified since he was not authorized to speak to the media. "It was raining, these are narrow, hill roads and the bus driver lost control." A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and local police were engaged in rescue operations, he said. Chief Minister of Uttarakhand state Trivendra Rawat said the bus fell into a 700-foot (213-meter) deep gorge in the Himalayan foothills. Senior police official Sanjay Gunjiyal said bad weather could have led the bus to skid off the road. "It is raining (in the area) since morning. Two days back there was a landslide in that area," he said, adding that residents were the first to reach the site and help the victims. Gunjiya said the terrain was inhospitable and communications poor. "Three choppers are waiting for clearance. If weather permits, these will be pressed into service to evacuate the injured" to the states capital Dehradun, he said. India has the worlds deadliest roads, with more than 110,000 people killed annually. Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles.