At least 18 people are dead after a bus carrying pilgrims fell into a gorge in Uttarakhand on Sunday, officials said. The bus was carrying over 30 passengers to Yamunotri.
Eighteen people have died, four are injured and eight are still missing, Arpan Yaduvanshi, Superintendent of Police in Uttarkashi said. News agency ANI said 22 people had died.
Another police official at the state headquarters told Reuters by phone that the accident took place near Damta in Uttarkashi district. “The bus was en route to Yamunotri with 29 passengers on board from Panna district in Madhya Pradesh,” the official said.
Home Minister Amit Shah said he had spoken to the state chief minister about the incident and said rescue operations were ongoing with injured being taken to the nearest hospital.
“The National Disaster Response Force is also reaching the spot soon,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident.
“The news of the bus accident in Uttarakhand is very painful. I express my condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. Under the supervision of the state government, the local administration is engaged in all possible assistance on the spot,” the Prime Minister’s Office said, quoting the prime minister.
“The prime minister has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the PMNRF for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the accident in Uttarakhand. The injured would be given Rs 50,000 each,” it said.
The Himalayan shrines of Yamunotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath and Gangotri are commonly known as Char Dham and they are popular pilgrim destinations.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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