Five killed, 21 injured as bus falls into gorge in Uttarakhand

At least five persons were killed and 21 injured as a bus fell into a gorge in Uttarakhand’s Almora district on Thursday, officials said.

As per information from the Almora disaster management centre, the accident took place in Mohanri on Bhatrojkhan-Bhikiyasan route around 4 pm as the Garhwal Motor Owners Union bus was coming from Chaukhitiya.

According to the centre, no rain or landslide was reported in the area and the reasons for the accident will be ascertained during the magisterial probe.

P Renuka Devi, superintendent of police, Almora, said, “We have rescued four severely injured passengers with the help of choppers and taken them to the All India Institute of Medical Science, Rishikesh.”

Another five injured passengers were taken to Ramnagar and Ranikhet for treatment, and the rest taken home by their relatives.

Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat expressed his condolence to the families of the deceased and wished speedy recovery of those injured in the accident.

The accident comes two days after a passenger vehicle was hit by a landslide on Gantri National Highway in Uttarkashi district, killing 14 of the 15 people aboard. The lone survivor is undergoing medication at a private hospital in the state capital.

On August 28, a bus fell into gorge in the Tehri Garhwal district, killing two persons while 33 were injured.

First Published: Sep 06, 2018 19:22 IST