A bus carrying girl students on their annual study tour met with an accident on a hilly road in Manipur’s Noney district on Wednesday morning, leaving nine dead and 38 injured.

Seven girl students, a warden and a teacher of a higher secondary school in Imphal East district died in the mishap that took place near Leimatak around 11am, when visibility, according to an official, “is usually not good because of fog.” The bus was on its way to Khoupum.

The injured were rushed to Imphal, about 50km from the mishap site, and admitted to three hospitals there.

The mishap took place on a steep hilly road and it is suspected the driver lost control of the bus.

A police official attributed the cause to a “mechanical snag linked to the brake failure”.

Officials said boy students belonging to the same school were also on the study tour in another bus. Within hours of the mishap, the state education department issued an order directing all principals, headmasters, and headmistresses of all government, government-aided and private unaided schools in the state not to organise school excursions till January 10 to avoid untoward incidents.

Manipur governor L. Ganesan and chief minister Biren Singh have condoled the deaths and prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured.