In Western India, a bus plunged into a river Wednesday, killing at least 44 children and three adults, police reported.

Police found many bodies, but some children are still missing. Only four children were rescued.

The tragedy occurred in the morning, while the students were on their way to take an examination near Vadodara, about 90 kilometers southwest of Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s main city.

The bus was carrying 60 children and several passengers from villages in the region, when the accident happened.

Officials said the bus driver lost control of the vehicle after a tire exploded and plunged the bus into the canal through a concrete railing on the bridge.

Villagers were very upset, claiming that many of the children could have been saved, had the rescue teams come in time.

"For two hours I could see bodies floating in the canal, but nobody came to help us and all we could do was cry and scream for help," said villager Rambhai Thakore, according to the International Herald Tribune.

Thakore, who is from Bamroli, lost 15 girls in the tragic accident.

Hundreds of villagers came to attend the funerals for the children, comforting their parents and protesting against the local authorities for delaying the rescue operations.

Authorities said they want to begin a thorough investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident.

Analysts have been drawing attention to the high number of road accidents in India. Several school buses have been involved in lethal accidents in the past year.