14 dead as bus rolls down hill on Rishikesh-Gangotri road

Neena Sharma

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 19

At least 14 people were killed when a 27-seater state road transport bus carrying over 29 passengers fell in a 300-metre deep gorge near Kirgani on the Rishikesh-Chamba-Gangotri highway on Wednesday morning in Tehri district of  Uttarakhand.

The accident occurred around 8 am, said Tehri District Magistrate Sonika said.

Six of the injured were flown in a chopper for treatment at AIIMS, Rishikesh, while the rest were being treated at Tehri district hospital and Masiha hospital in Chamba, she said.

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat expressed grief at the loss of lives in the accident and announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the family of those killed and Rs 50,000 for those injured.   

Police and SDRF teams were conducting rescue operations, the district magistrate said.

According to reports, the bus driver lost control after failing to navigate safely through the craters and debris formed on the road where work for the all-weather char dham road is on.

The site also falls in the landslide zone.

Just a few days back, a similar accident had occurred on July 1 in Pauri when a bus fell into a gorge after the driver lost control. Around 48 persons had lost their lives in the accident and a magisterial inquiry is still on.