Bus Crash On Way To Taj Mahal Kills 5 U.S. Students, 2 Others

A bus carrying American students participating in a university study-abroad program flipped into a ditch on the way to the Taj Mahal Thursday, killing five Americans, the U.S. Embassy said.

Four students were hospitalized in the accident near Bhimnagar, a village 15 miles north of Agra, where the 17th-century white marble monument is located. A newspaper said at least 18 other students were injured, but the report could not be immediately confirmed.

The bus flipped off the road around midnight as it was trying to pass another vehicle on the treacherous, pothole-covered road in northern India. The Indian bus driver and a tour guide were also killed.

There were 30 people on the bus - 27 Americans, the Indian guide and two Indian drivers.

Ken Service, a spokesman for the University of Pittsburgh, said the students were part of the university’s Semester at Sea program, for which they received college credit. They had arrived by ship in the southern city of Madras on Monday.

Rescuers had to slice off the roof of the bus to reach passengers, according to the Amar Ujala, a newspaper published in Agra. The newspaper quoted witnesses as saying the bus was going too fast and the driver lost control on a bend.

In Agra, Dr. Munish Gupta said four students were in stable condition in his private Parekh Nursing Home. Three had fractured limbs and one had head injuries, he said.

Police said the bus was coming from New Delhi, 125 miles north of Agra. It was part of a larger group of American college students traveling to the Taj Mahal in two buses. The dead students were identified as Cherese Laulhere of Long Beach, Calif.; Jennifer Druck of Del Mar, Calif.; Sarah Schewe of Amherst, Mass.; Virginia Amato of Metairie, La.; and John Wilson, of Pittsburgh.