Uttarakhand: 5 killed, 18 injured after bus falls into gorge in Pauri

The Pauri Garhwal district magistrate has directed the officials of the transport department to investigate the causes of the accident

Five people were killed, and 18 others were injured after the bus they were travelling in fell into a gorge near Dehalchauri in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal, said police.

The accident took place at around 4pm.

The accident took place at around 4pm when the bus was on its way from Pauri to Srinagar. It had left the Pauri bus stand at around 3pm and fell into the gorge near Kothar band.

Pauri Garhwal senior superintendent of police (SSP) Lokeshwar Singh said that of the 18 injured, five have been rushed to Srinagar and 13 others have been sent to Pauri district hospital.

Singh said the cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained.

Meanwhile, district magistrate Ashish Chauhan has directed the officials of the transport department to investigate the causes of the accident.

The identities of the deceased and victims are yet to be released by the administration.

Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed his condolences.

“Received the sad news about the death of passengers in the bus accident in Pauri. I pray to God to grant the departed souls a place in his feet and give strength to the bereaved family to bear this pain,” Dhami said.

He said relief and rescue operations are underway by the local administration and the injured are being treated at the nearest hospital. “I pray to Baba Kedar for the speedy recovery of the injured,” he added.

In another incident, a person died while three others were injured after the car they were travelling in fell into a 200-metre-deep gorge in Jeolikote in Nainital district on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.

A police team rushed to the spot after receiving an alert via 112 emergency number and conducted a rescue operation. All the injured were rushed to BD Pandey government hospital in Nainital where doctors declared one person ‘brought dead’.

The deceased was identified as Mojum Khan (26), a resident of Bareilly.

The police sent the body for postmortem and informed the relatives about the incident.

Ramesh Singh Vohra, in charge of the Tallital police station, said, “ A person died while three injured after their car, registration number UP 25 DD 4750, fell into a gorge in Jeolikote on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday at around 12:30 am. The body of the deceased was handed over to his family members after the postmortem.”