MARCHULA: 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 over 60 people on board.
Twenty-six people were injured, four of them critically, when the 43-seater bus, operated by the private Garhwal Motor Owners Union, 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 of Ramnagar, he said.
Visuals from the area pointed to the magnitude of the accident, with 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 passengers. The rescue operation lasted around five hours.
Of the 36 killed, 10 are women. Twenty-eight people died on the spot and eight succumbed to injuries in the Ramdutt Joshi Joint Hospital in Ramnagar. 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 condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of those injured,” President Droupadi Murmu wrote on X.
PM Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge were among those who expressed their grief at the loss of lives in the accident and prayed for the quick recovery of the injured.
The PM 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 was making every possible effort for relief and rescue.