26 bodies recovered after U’khand accident; shock, grief shrouds kin
DEHRADUN/MUSSOORIE: Bodies of 26 passengers, including 14 women, were recovered on Sunday night after the bus they were travelling in fell into a 250-metre gorge near Damta in Uttarkashi district, police said.
The bus driver is among four injured while his helper died in the accident.Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who visited the accident site on Monday along with his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chauhan, said he has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.
“Rapid rescue operation was carried out by district administration, SDRF, NDRF and local police and by 2.30 am (on Monday) all 26 bodies were recovered,” Dhami said.
The bus driver, who along with three others is being treated at a hospital in Dehradun, told us that the accident happened due to the failure of the steering wheel, Dhami said, while announcing ex gratia of ₹1 lakh each for the kin deceased and ₹50,000 to those injured.
“The relief and rescue operations were started immediately by the district administration. Everyone acted as swiftly in the rescue operation,” Chauhan said.
The post-mortem proceedings of the deceased were carried out expeditiously, Chauhan said and announced ex gratia of ₹5 lakh each to the next kin of the deceased. “The mortal remains of the passengers have been sent to Jolly Grant, Dehradun from where they will be airlifted to Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh) through an IAF helicopter in the evening. From there the bodies will be sent to their homes.”
Uttarkashi district disaster management officer Devendra Patwal said the rescue operation continued till 2.30 am amid challenging conditions.