MARCHULA (UTTARAKHAND): A packed beyond capacity bus carrying passengers returning to work after Diwali fell into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand’s Almora district on Monday, killing at least 36 of the about 60 people on board.
Twenty-four people were injured, four of them critically, when the 43-seater bus, operated by the private Garhwal Motor Owner Association, was on its way from Pauri in Garhwal region to Ramnagar in Kumaon about 250 km away. The accident took place around 8 am, almost the fag end of the overnight journey, said District Magistrate Alok Kumar Pandey.
The bus plunged into a 200-metre gorge in Almora’s Marchula area 35 km before its destination Ramnagar, he said.
Visuals from the area pointed to the magnitude of the accident, the vehicle reduced to a mangled mess as it rolled down the forested, rocky slope and stopped just short of a stream. Rescuers could be seen working to pull out the passengers.
A magisterial probe has been ordered and the assistant regional transport officers of Pauri and Almora suspended.
“The news of the death of many people, including women and children, in a road accident in Almora, Uttarakhand is heart-rending. I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of those injured,” President Droupadi Murmu said in a post on X.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also expressed their grief at the loss of lives in the accident and prayed for the quick recovery of the injured.
The prime minister announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and an assistance of Rs 50,000 for the injured. He said the local administration is making every possible effort for relief and rescue.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who was on his way to the accident spot, announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh for the next of kin and financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh for the injured.
The injured were taken to the nearest hospital in Ramnagar. Of the four critically injured, three were airlifted to AIIMS, Rishikesh, and one to the Sushila Tiwari Hospital in Haldwani, Almora District Disaster Management Officer Vineet Pal said.
At the hospital in Ramnagar, doctors, nurses and medical staff stepped into high gear to treat the injured, many of them bleeding and in visible agony.
According to Pal, around 60 people were on board the 43-seater bus when the accident took place. The overloading of the vehicle could have led to the tragedy, he added.
Police and personnel of the National and State Disaster Response Forces rushed to the spot to launch a search and rescue operation.
Details of those killed and injured were not immediately known.
“The Garhwal Motor Owners Association bus was carrying people returning to work after spending the long weekend at home,” an official said.
The chief minister said that any negligence that led to the bus accident will be dealt with sternly.
“Related departments have been given orders to suspend officials involved. People who are affected are being helped. I am supervising the incident personally,” Dhami said.
“Received very sad news of casualties of passengers in the unfortunate bus accident that took place in Marchula of Almora district. The district administration has been instructed to conduct relief and rescue operations swiftly,” he said in a post on X earlier in the morning. (PTI)
