Seven die in India flood accident

At least seven people have been killed after a bus they were travelling in was swept away by a flash flood in the Indian state of Orissa, police said.

The bus was crossing a small bridge in the Nayagarh district when the gushing waters engulfed it late on Monday, the police added.

A local official said rescuers were looking for 15 people who were missing following the incident.

There have been heavy monsoon rains in Orissa since Sunday.

Local official KC Jena told the Associated Press news agency that 20 people, who had been travelling in the bus, had been rescued from the Besalia river in Nayagarh, some 75 miles (120km) west of the state capital, Bhubaneshwar.

The official quoted passengers as saying that the driver of the passenger bus had ignored warnings from passengers not to cross the bridge.

Monsoon rains in India usually begin in June and end in September.