ew Delhi  -  At least 41 children and three adults were killed when a state-run bus fell into the Narmada canal on Wednesday in Vadodara district of western Indian Gujarat state, the police said.

"Forty-four bodies have been recovered from the canal. Divers are searching for others. We estimate there may have been between 50 to 60 people on the bus, Dilawar Singh, an official at the Vadodara police control room said.

The bus was taking the children from surrounding villages to two schools in Bodili town, about 280 kilometres south-east of Gujarat capital Gandhinagar when the accident happened.

The driver was trying to overtake a truck at high speed on a bridge when he lost control and the bus crashed into the 60-feet deep Narmada river canal, NDTV reported quoting district officials.

Four children were rescued. All the children were students of standards eight and nine and would be aged between 13 and 15. The victims included the driver and his assistant and several girls, a Vadodara police official said.

The bus was fished out of the river, the police official said. Water released into the canal from the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river has been stopped to help rescue operations, PTI news agency reported. Sardar Sarovar is one of India's largest dams.

The Gujarat government has ordered a high-level inquiry into the accident. It also announced compensation of 100,000 rupees for the families of each of the victims.

Road accidents are common in India and often involve passenger buses with inadequately trained drivers. Poor condition of vehicles and roads are also factors in many accidents.

Six children were killed in 2006 when a school bus fell into a canal in Harayana state.

Last December, at least 19 people died in the northern state of Punjab when a school bus collided with a train. (dpa)