45 pilgrims rescued after bus falls into Punjab canal

Chandigarh: More than 45 pilgrims were rescued after the bus they were travelling in fell into an irrigation canal near Punjab's Madhopur town and rushed to a hospital in Pathankot, police said. Police officials said the bus fell into the Upper Bari Doab canal. The water level was lowered by Punjab irrigation department to help in rescue operations. “We are looking into the reasons as to why the bus fell into the canal. The driver claimed that the brakes of the vehicle failed,” a Punjab police official said. Passengers claimed the bus was carried in the canal water current for some distance, but saved by immediate rescue operations. Mostly from Delhi and Haryana's Gurgaon, the passengers were returning from the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir state after pilgrimage; none of them have sustained serious injuries.