As many as 44 people have died while 29 others have sustained injuries after a private bus carrying several passengers veered off the road and fall into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district.
The mishap occurred in Banjar sub-division of the district. Teams of the district administration and district disaster management authority along-with doctors rushed to the spot and started the rescue and relief operations.
A large number of injured were pulled out of the mangled remains of the bus and were rushed to a hospital in ambulances and local vehicles.
The overloaded bus bearing registration number HP66-7065 was plying on Kullu-Gadagushaini route.
After leaving the Banjar bus stand, it had hardly covered a distance of 2 km when it plunged into the gorge while negotiating a sharp turn at Bhiyoth.
Prime minister Narendra Modi, Himachal Pradesh governor Acharya Devvrat and chief minister Jai Ram Thakur have expressed grief over the incident.
The CM has asked the administration to provide best possible treatment to the injured passengers. He said that a magisterial probe has been ordered to look into the reasons behind the mishap.
Meanwhile, state transport minister Govind Singh Thakur left for the spot from Shimla after learning about the accident.
The Kullu district administration has announced Rs 50,000 as immediate relief to the kin of the deceased and injured persons.
Death toll rises to 44 in Kullu bus incident
