As many as 14 persons died and 17 others were injured in Uttarakhand’s Tehri district when the bus they were travelling in rolled down a gorge on Thursday morning. This is the second major bus accident in the state this month. On 1 July, 48 passengers lost their lives and 12 were injured in a similar tragedy at Pauri Garhwal.
The state government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the Tehri accident. The accident took place at Kirgani in Tehri.
A bus of the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation (No: UK07-PA-1929), began its journey from Barkot. According to the State Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre, Dehradun, the vehicle, with 31 passengers onboard, fell into a 200-metre gorge killing 14 persons. The injured were rushed to hospitals in Chamba and Bauradi. Eleven critically injured were air-lifted for advanced medical care and four others by ambulances to Rishikesh-based All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Jayendra Singh (26), Anita Gumbar (3), Nobar Gusain (70), Subana Devi (60), Dayal Singh (43), Pramod (43), Vinod (32), Md Asif and Rana Singh Pandiyar lost their life in the incident. Five bodies remain unidentified and they have been kept at a mortuary in the Tehri district hospital. The passengers were mainly from Tehri, Uttarkashi and some from Uttar Pradesh.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has expressed deep grief over the bus accident.
On getting information about the accident, local people and police began the rescue and relief operations. The chief minister also instructed cabinet ministers, Yashpal Arya and Subodh Uniyal to reach the accident spot to supervise the rescue and relief work.
The Chief Minister has announced a grant of Rs 2 Lakh each to the next of kin of deceased and Rs 50,000 each to the injured.
District Magistrate, SSP, SDM, tehsildar, police, fire and disaster relief teams along with 108 ambulances are present on the spot.