At least nine people were killed and as many missing after a passenger bus crashed into the side railing of a bridge and plunged into a rivulet in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, officials said. The accident occurred in the state's West Godavari district, close to 900 kms from Andhra capital Amaravati, when the government bus with 47 people on board, including a driver and a conductor, was on its way to Jangareddygudem from Aswaraopet. Read:Sole survivor of Indian military chief's chopper crash dies "The bus hit the bridge railing and fell into the rivulet. We have so far recovered nine bodies, including five female passengers," district police chief Rahul Dev Sharma told the local media. "Some 22 passengers have been rescued so far. Efforts are on to fish out the bus." Andhra Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan expressed "anguish and profound grief" over the tragic bus accident and instructed the officials concerned to provide immediate medical help to all the injured. "A probe has been ordered to ascertain if the driver was speeding," the police official said. This is the second major road accident in the state in the past 10 months. In March this year, eight people were killed and six others injured in a head-on collision between a van and a lorry in Nellore district. Read: India orders tri-services probe into military chief's chopper crash Road accidents are very common in India, with one taking place every four minutes. These accidents are often blamed on poor condition of roads, rash driving and scant regard for traffic laws. The Indian government's implementation of stricter traffic laws in recent years have failed to rein in accidents, which claim over 100,000 lives every year.

More than 250 people, including women and children, have fallen ill in India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh over the past few days, confirmed a local government official on Sunday.