28 die as bus falls into gorge in Himachal
least 28 people died and nine were injured in Himachal Pradesh’s Rampur after a private bus rolled down a gorge in the hill state on Thursday , police said.
The bus with 40 passengers on board was on its way from Reckong Peo in Kinnaur to Solan and met the accident on National Highway 5 near Rampur, around 120km from Shimla. The deceased include 19 men and nine women. Out of 28, 21 bodies have been identified. Local administration rushed police and rescue personnel to the spot and a team of the National Disaster Response Force was on its way, said deputy commissioner of police Rohan Chand Thakur.
He added that ₹10,000 per head has been distributed to the injured and relatives of identified dead as instant compensation. Besides police, fire brigade Central Industrial Security Force personnel also carried out the rescue operation.
Though bursting of tyre is suspected to have caused the accident, a magisterial probe has been ordered. Sub-divisional magistrate Nipun Jindal will conduct the probe.
The injured have been taken to the nearest hospital. The possibility of higher casualties cannot be ruled out as the bus rolled down around 200 metres towards the bank of the Sutlej, Thakur said.
PM Narendra Modi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Himachal governor Acharya Devvrat and CM Virbhadra Singh expressed grief over the mishap.