In the rescue operation undertaken by the local district administration, 12 bodies were recovered. (Express Photo)Twelve people, including a driver and a bus conductor, were killed after a Pune-bound bus carrying 10 passengers fell into Narmada River near Khal Ghat in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone district on Monday morning.
Seven of the deceased belonged to Maharashtra, four to Rajasthan while one was a resident of MP’s Indore.
According to police, the bus belonging to Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) had departed from Indore at 7.30am but lost control on the Ram Setu bridge in a bid to save a biker and fell into the river around 10am.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed grief over the accident. PM Modi has announced Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the accident. Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde has asked MSRTC to provide financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the persons who were travelling in the bus. MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan has also announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the family of each deceased person.
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Minister in-charge of Khargone district Kamal Patel said the accident took place while the bus was crossing the bridge that lies on the border of Dhar and Khargone districts.
The local administration along with teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) recovered 12 dead bodies from inside the vehicle. Minister Patel said, “As per our record, there were a total of 12 people on the bus and all the bodies were recovered from inside the vehicle which had its door locked.”
The deceased included the driver of the bus, Chandrakant Patil, 45, and conductor Prakash Chaudhari.
Some of the other deceased have been identified as Avinash Pardeshi, Raju Tulsiram ,35, Jagannath Joshi, 68, Chetan Jagid, Limbaji Khati, Saifuddin Abbas Ali Bohra, Kalpana Patil, 57, Vikash Berhe, 33, Arwa Murtaza Bohra, 27, and Rukmanibai Joshi.
“Pained to know about the loss of lives in Maharashtra ST bus (Indore to Amalner) accident… Our deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones,” Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted after the incident.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra opposition leader Ajit Pawar also expressed their condolences.
“Our officials are heading to the site of the accident,” said MSRTC spokesperson Abhijit Bhosale.
Shekhar Channe, Vice President and Managing Director of MSRTC, said that a committee has been appointed to find out the cause of the accident.
According to MSRTC officials, the Indore-Amalner bus number MH40N 9848 of Amalner (Jalgaon district) depot of MSRTC broke the railing of a bridge on the National Highway No 3 before falling into the river.
The mangled bus was later pulled out of the river with the help of a crane and traffic movement on the highway was restored, officials said.
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