Twenty four people were killed when a mini bus packed with over two dozen wedding guests plunged into the Mej River in Lakheri region of Rajasthan’s Bundi district Wednesday morning, officials said.

Villagers and the local police began rescue operations soon after the accident on the Kota-Lalsot highway near Papdi village, 250 south of Jaipur. Officials said the driver was speeding and lost control on the bridge which did not have railings.

“The small bus carrying around 29 wedding guests of a local villages lost control on the bridge and fell in the Mej River,” L N Soni, Divisional Commissioner of Kota said.

District Collector, Bundi, Antar Singh Nehra said 24 bodies have been recovered from the river.

Five seriously injured were sent to two different hospitals in Kota and Lakheri .

“The wedding party was going from Kota to Sawai Madhopur,” he said.

Top officials including Soni, Nehra, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Ravi Dutt Gaur, and Bundi’s Superintendent of Police Shivraj Meena rushed to the spot following the accident.