52 killed, 46 injured as overcrowded bus falls into gorge in Himachal

[Sir john]

At least 52 people, including 18 women and two children, were today killed and 46 others injured when an overcrowded private bus veered off the road and fell into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district. The mishap took place near Rajera, 8 km from the district headquarters of Chamba, when the bus driver lost control over the vehicle after a tyre burst and it fell into the 250-feet- deep gorge, police said. The 42-seater bus, on its way to Chamba from Dulera, was carrying over 100 passengers with large number of them travelling on the roof of the vehicle when the tragedy struck, they said. As many as 39 people, including the driver, died on the spot, while 13 succumbed to their injuries in the hospital. "All the bodies have been recovered," Chamba Deputy Commissioner Sunil Chowdhary said. The injured were rushed to a hospital in Chamba where the condition of 12 are stated to be critical. Himachal Assembly Speaker Tulsi Ram and local MLA B K Chauhan rushed to the spot and supervised the relief and rescue operations. Of the total relief of Rs 1 lakh each announced for the family of the deceased, the district administration distributed immediate relief of Rs 10,000 each to the next of the kin of the victims, while the seriously injured were provided medical aid and relief of Rs 5,000 each. A magisterial enquiry has been instituted to ascertain the cause of the accident, officials said. Chief Minister P K Dhumal has expressed grief over the tragedy and directed the local administration to provide relief to the victims. Share this story:

RIP

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Sad .... RIP!

[Sir john]

Holiday rush, few buses on road compounded the tragedy It was the attraction of cheaper shopping on the last day of Minjar fair in Chamba town that drove people from different parts of the district to Chamba town. Rush of people in the buses was more, compared to other days, as Saturday was holiday and very few buses were plying on the road. But all the excitement vanished with the bus accident in which many families lost more than one members. One such family was of Naresh Kumar from Shailey village. Not knowing what destiny had in store, Naresh, wife Bimla and son Kewal, along with brother Tek Chand, his wife Beena and their son Surender, besides uncle Atma Ram and his son Vivek had boarded the bus to reach Chamba, but tragedy struck when five members of the family died on the spot in the accident, while seriously injured Bimla is struggling for life at Chamba hospital, sources said. The accident has left the entire Shailey village shell shocked. There was not a single village in the area which has not witnessed death in Saturday's accident, sources added. Chamba MLA B K Chauhan had to face public anger when he visited the accident spot during the day. People from the villages alleged that earlier, an HRTC bus used to ply on the route at 8 am, but a few days later, its operation was stopped. Villagers from the area had met the MLA and even deputy commissioner, requesting to resume HRTC service, considering the need of office goers and school children, but their demands were not met. "Seeing the MLA, people lost their control and broke the glasses of MLA's vehicle. They even threw burning papers inside, but timely intervention by ITBP personnel saved the situation from worsening and the MLA was taken to safety," sources said. According to sources, people from nearby villages, who had sent their family members to Chamba in the ill-fated bus on hearing the news of accident, rushed to the spot and frantically started searching for their dear ones from the pile of bodies kept on the road after rescue workers brought them out of the 1,000-feet gorge. "It was tragic to see bodies lined up on the road. The dead included eight children and around 15 women. Such a big accident was never witnessed in the history of Chamba," said Ajay Manu, a Chamba resident. Only those hanging in the back or had jumped from the roof before the bus fell into the gorge survived, he said. The scene at the spot was horrifying, Manu said. The impact of the accident was so great that the entire bus was broken into many pieces and bodies were strewn in the area.