8 killed, 26 missing as Punjab bus plunges into Kullu river
KULLU: At least eight persons were killed and 21 others injured when a private tourist bus from Punjab plunged into the swollen Parbati river in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district on Thursday. Twenty-six passengers were still missing and their chances of survival were bleak as the bus was still untraceable.
The bus — which had 55 passengers, mostly from Punjab’s Mansa, Barnala and Bathinda areas — was on its way to the Sikh shrine of Manikaran, around 40 km from Kullu.
“The accident occur red around 4.15 pm at Sarsari village on the Bhuntar-Manikaran road,” Kullu deputy commissioner Rakesh Kanwar said. The DC said eight bodies were fished out and a rescue operation was on. It is believed that the driver lost control over the vehicle as a result it skidded off the road and fell into the river. “The bus is still untraceable. Most of the bodies might be still stuck in the bus or washed away,” said the DC. The injured have been admitted to the regional hospital in Kullu from where four were referred to the Post Graduate Institute if Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh. Kullu hospital authorities said the condition of the injured was critical and all of them were in an unconscious state.
Police, home guard and other rescue personnel have been deployed along the 70-km river stretch between Bhuntar and Mandi to locate the bodies. Governor Kalyan Singh and chief minister Virbhadra Singh have expressed grief over the tragedy.
PILGRIMS FROM MANSA, BATHINDA, BARNALA WERE ON WAY TO VISIT MANIKARAN SHRINE