13 killed as bus falls into gorge in U’khand

Thirteen people were killed and over a dozen injured after a bus fell into a 150-metre deep gorge in Uttarakhand’s Almora district Tuesday, police said.

District Magistrate Eva Ashish Srivastava said the incident took place at Totam village, 80 km from the district headquarters, around 8.15 am. The accident spot is on the Ramnagar-Ranikhet road.

The bus had started from Deghat village at 4:30 am and was headed to Ramnagar. There were 27 people on board. None escaped unhurt. Based on preliminary investigations, police said the accident took place when the bus driver lost control of the vehicle while giving pass to a car on a narrow stretch.

Teams from the state disaster response fund (SDRF) and police were rushed from Almora and a rescue operation initiated.

“Thirteen people, including the driver, were killed when the bus fell into the gorge,” the DM said.

Meanwhile, staff at Bhatrojkhan police station said the postmortem was being conducted at Bhatrojkhan.

Nine people have been admitted to government hospital in Ramnagar, while five with critical injuries have been referred to the Government Medical College, Haldwani.

All passengers have been identified, police said.

Governor KK Paul and chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat expressed grief over the incident and prayed for the departed souls.

After receiving information about the accident, the chief minister spoke to the DMs of Almora and Nainital about the rescue and relief operations.

TEAMS FROM THE STATE DISASTER RESPONSE FUND (SDRF) AND POLICE WERE RUSHED FROM ALMORA AND A RESCUE OPERATION WAS INITIATED