48 die in U’khand as bus falls into gorge
Dehradun, July 1: Fortyeight passengers of an overcrowded private bus were killed and 10 injured when the vehicle fell into a 200- metre- deep gorge in Uttarakhand’s Pauri district on Sunday morning, police said.
The 28- seater bus was carrying 58 passengers and the driver was allegedly trying to negotiate a big pothole in the middle of the road when the incident took place around 8.30 am. A magisterial probe has been ordered to find out the cause of accident.
“The accident occurred near Gween village, close to Dhumakot, when the bus, on way to Ramnagar, fell into a 200metre- deep gorge killing 45 persons on the spot and leaving 13 injured,” Pauri superintendent of police Jagat Ram Joshi said.
Three injured succumbed to injuries later at a health centre in Dhumakot, Mr Joshi said.
Though the exact cause of the accident is not yet known, its overcrowding is being suspected to be the reason behind the incident, police said.
One of the possibilities is that the bus fell into the gorge when the driver was trying to negotiate a big pothole in the middle of the road, Mr Joshi said referring to initial inputs.
The plunge was so forceful that the upper part of the bus separated exposing the seats in the lower part, he said.
All bodies were recovered and the injured rescued from the mangled remains of the vehicle which rolled down into the 200 metre deep gorge before crashing into a shallow stream, he said.
Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat visited the accident site and announced a compensation of ` 2 lakhs to the next of kin of those killed and ` 50,000 for the injured.
President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed their condolences to the families of those killed in the accident.
Earlier, Union home minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Mr Rawat on the phone to condole the deaths in the accident and offered all possible help in relief and rescue operations.