Bus carrying varsity staff falls into gorge; 33 dead

THEY WERE HEADED TO MAHABALESHWAR FOR A PICNIC WHEN THE DRIVER LOST CONTROL AND IT FELL INTO THE GORGE

Thirty-three staff members of an agriculture university in Maharashtra were killed when the bus they were travelling in skidded off the road and rolled down a deep gorge in Raigad district on Saturday afternoon, officials said. The private bus was carrying 34 staff members of the university on a picnic. It fell into a 500-feet deep gorge at Ambenali Ghat near Poladpur town, around 180 km from here, District Collector Vijay Suryawanshi told PTI over the phone.

Thirty-three passengers died in the accident which took place at around 12.30 pm, he said. SP Anil Paraskar said the passengers were on their way to Mahabaleshwar, a hill station in Satara district in Western Maharashtra, for a picnic, when the driver lost control over the vehicle while negotiating a turn and it fell into the gorge.

All the bus passengers were staff of the Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth at Dapoli in Raigad district, he said. Dr Sanjay Bhave, Director of Extension Education, BSKKV said, “Each year, our clerical staff members leave for a picnic. Going by a photo clicked before their journey, we estimate they left the varsity premises in Dapoli at 6.30 in the morning. From those we counted in the picture, there are at least 32 members including two drivers in the bus.”

Dr Bhave said University authorities were alerted about the tragedy after receiving a phone call at 10.30 am saying the bus had collapsed in a gorge. “It appears that one of the superintendents in the bus by the name of Prakash Sawant-Desai managed to climb all the way up and give news about the mishap,” said Dr Bhave. Ambulance teams are being rushed from Mahabaleshwar. Rescue teams aided by locals and groups of trekkers are already engaged in operations on a war footing. Senior police officials and politicos have rushed to the spot.

A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), dispatched from Pune, was at the spot to pull out bodies from the ill-fated bus. A dozen ambulances and 15 doctors were at the scene, Additional SP Sanjay Patil said. At least 12 bodies have been retrieved from the site of the crash. Inclement weather in the form of heavy showers is impeding rescue efforts.

SURVIVOR RECOUNTS HORRID ORDEAL

The lone survivor, Prakash Sawant, speaking to reporters in Poladpur, said mud and loose stones on that particular stretch of the ghat road caused the bus tyres to skid. "The bus veered to the left and fell into the gorge before we could understand what was happening. Trees arrested the fall someway down. I had managed to jump out in time. I caught hold of whatever I could, like tree shrubs, niches in rocks and climbed up somehow," he said, recounting the tragedy. When Sawant reached the road, he saw a crowd of people. "One of them gave me a mobile phone. I called up the police control room and informed them," he said.

Originally, 40 people were supposed to join the trip to Mahabaleshwar, but some of them opted out at the last moment because the bus was small and there was no space, Sawant said.