A local bus plunged headlong into a river in Aldona, 20 km from Panaji, killing four schoolgirls and two adults on Saturday.
A seventh passenger could be missing, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Ravindra Yadav said.
The bus carrying passengers to the ferry crossing between Aldona and Calvin village rolled down the ferry ramp into the river after the brakes failed. The ferry was on the other side of the river. Both the driver and the cleaner however jumped out to safety, leaving the rest of the passengers, most of them schoolchildren aged 8 to 11, to fend for themselves.
The driver Rajesh Naik who also owns the bus has been arrested and booked for culpable homicide, Yadav said.
Those killed are Elvina Dias, 11, and her sister Diana aged 8, Priyal Salgaonkar, 10, Nigal Gracias, 10, Josephine Dias, 58 and Dayanand Hoble, 55.
Eyewitnesses saw the mother of the Dias children running around frantically looking for her missing daughters at the accident site. The girls were all from the St Thomas Girls High School, Aldona, on their way home after an early Saturday break. The accident happened around 12:20 pm.
Six bodies were recovered with help from Navy divers, the coast guard and the coastal police. Yadav said locals had shown exemplary bravery in attempting to save the passengers from the submerged bus. The coastal police who arrived in two interceptors within 40 minutes of the accident saw villagers in canoes trying to get to the bus.
Witnesses said the coastal police proved of little assistance with no divers on their team. Initial attempts to pull the bus out with ropes proved futile. The crush of people at the accident site deep in the interior of Aldona village also hampered rescue operations.
Announcing an interim relief of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the victims of the bus tragedy, the government cancelled the carnival parade scheduled for Saturday evening because of the tragedy, Chief Secretary Sanjay Srivastava told Deccan Herald.