At least 36 people were killed and several others were injured on Monday when a bus fell into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand's Almora district, reports NDTV.
According to district authorities, the 45-seater passenger bus fell into a 200-metre-deep gorge at Marchula on Monday morning while travelling from Pauri in Garhwal to Ramnagar in Kumaon -- an overnight journey of about 250 km. It met with the accident about 35 km from the destination Rampur.
Indian police and the State Disaster Response Force have launched a rescue operation at the accident site.
Officials said that the accident took place around 8.25 am in the morning. Residents of the nearby villages were the first responders and started rescuing passengers. While several passengers died at the spot, at least nine succumbed to injuries after they were rushed to hospital. Three passengers have been airlifted and are being taken to AIIMS.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said the district administration has been asked to speed up the rescue operation.
“Received very sad news of casualties of passengers in the unfortunate bus accident that took place in Marchula of Almora district. The district administration has been instructed to conduct relief and rescue operations swiftly,” he said on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
