At least 21 people were killed and eight were gravely injured when a bus plunged into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand late on Tuesday. The bus, which was carrying pilgrims from Madhya Pradesh, was returning from the Gangotri shrine when the incident happened. The accident occurred near Nalupani in Uttarkashi district.
The accident occurred at around 6 PM when the bus fell 300 metre down the road into the river, Dharasu police station incharge Ravindra Saha said.
There were around 29 pilgrims, mostly from Indore, in the bus at the time of the accident.
“The bus broke into pieces at the bottom of the gorge near the banks of Bharathi river. The rescue operations could not be launched from the gorge bottom, so rope bridges were formed from the other bank to ferry the injured across to safety. The bodies were also moved in the same manner,” Uttarakhand’s Dharasu police station in-charge said.
The persons, who are injured in the mishap, have been admitted to the district hospitals in Uttarkashi and Chinyalisaur, Uttarkashi District Magistrate Ashish Shrivastava said.
PM Narendra Modi announced and ex gratia of Rs. 2 lakhs from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the next of kin of those killed in the bus accident in Uttarkashi.
The Prime Minister has also announced Rs. 50,000 for those seriously injured. My prayers and solidarity with those who lost their loved ones in the unfortunate bus accident, PMO India tweeted. “May the injured recover soon,” the Prime Minister said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased.
However, panic was reported from the Betma town in Indore from where pilgrims were belongs to as news was spread through social media and WhatsApp messages on Tuesday evening.
