Barpeta, Sept. 22: One person died and 40 were injured, seven of them seriously, when a Guwahati-bound bus travelling from Barpeta skidded off the road and fell into a roadside pond today in Barpeta district.

The mishap took place at Kujarpith under Bhawanipur police outpost, 22km from here, around 11.45am.

Police said the driver had lost control and the bus plunged into a roadside pond.

The victim has been identified as Jalil Sikdar, 20, of Deworikuchi village. The driver of the bus fled the spot.

“The bus was running at a high speed and the driver probably lost control,” Nazimuddin Dewan of Kujarpith, a bystander, said.