Twenty people have been killed after a bus plunged into a freezing canal when it took a wrong turn in dense fog in India, and weather officials say the deadly cold snap gripping South Asia is unlikely to end soon.
At least 647 people, including the bus victims, have died during the two-week chill in northern India and Bangladesh, mostly poor and homeless without proper clothing or shelter.
Sixty people were aboard the bus when it drove into the canal near the northern Indian town of Aligarh late on Tuesday, another Uttar Pradesh state official told Reuters on Wednesday.
"All we can do now is to pray to the Almighty to improve the weather," said Navneet Sehgal, an official with the government of India's Uttar Pradesh state where the accident occurred.
"Or else we are going to be in for more casualties."
Thick fog has also disrupted flights and bus and train services in northern India.