NEW DELHI, Nov 24: A passenger bus plummeted off a bridge in central India on Sunday, killing at least 30 people and injuring 30 others, officials said.

The bus veered off the road after its front tire blew out on a bridge over the Son River in Madhya Pradesh state, said Keshav Kumar, an aide to the local administrator. It smashed into the dry river bed.

Twenty-seven bodies had already been recovered from the twisted hulk, and three more were buried beneath it, Kumar said by telephone from the nearest town of Sidhi.

The dead and injured had been taken to hospitals in Sidhi, Kumar said. Most of the victims were poor farm labourers and owners of small businesses.—AP