48 KILLED AFTER 25SEATER BUS FALLS INTO GORGE IN UTTARAKHAND

DEHRADUN/PAURI: Forty-eight people were killed and 12 others injured when an overcrowded bus carrying about 60 people fell into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand’s Pauri district on Sunday, police said.

Police officials said the private bus, which was travelling from Bamenisain to Ramnagar, had a capacity of 28 people. While 45 people died at the accident spot at around 8.30am, 15 others were rescued and taken to Ramnagar for treatment. Three of them died on the way to the hospital.

“It’s too early to state any reason for the accident. It could be overloading or any technical fault in the bus or the road engineering, we don’t know it clearly as of now,” said inspector general of police (law and order) Deepam Seth.

Pauri superintendent of police Jagat Ram Josi said one of the possibilities was that the bus fell into the 100-metre-deep gorge when the driver was trying to negotiate a waterlogged stretch of road. The roof of the bus separated from the rest of the body after the bus plunged, the SP said.

Rescue operations had been completed at the spot, nearly 200km from Dehradun, by the evening and the police were trying to ascertain the identities of the deceased, an official said.

CONTINUED ON P 7 ››4 OF FAMILY AMONG 5 DEAD

IN KASHMIR ACCIDENT, P6