New Delhi – At least 36 people were killed and six others injured on Monday when a bus lost control and plunged into a gorge on a hilly road in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. The bus was built to carry 42 passengers, but state official Deepak Rawat told The Associated Press that there were about 60 people inside at the time of the crash.
The bus was on its way from Garhwal to the tourist town of Ramnagar when it veered off the road, officials said.
Almora district officials launched a rescue operation and the victims were transferred to regional hospitals.
Uttarakhand police shared a video clip of rescuers working around the overturned bus, which lay next to a river at the foot of a steep hill almost 200 feet below the road.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said in a social media post that an investigation would be initiated into the cause of the incident. Vineet Pal, another state official, said preliminary information suggested the bus was poorly maintained and that it skidded before tumbling into the gorge.
The AP quoted Pal as saying that two transportation officials had been suspended for certifying the bus despite its poor condition.
Dhami also announced compensation of 400,000 Indian rupees ($4,750) for the families of the crash victims, and 100,000 rupees ($1,190) for the injured.
Dhami said emergency services “worked quickly to evacuate the injured and take them to the nearest health center for treatment. Instructions have also been given to airlift the seriously injured passengers if necessary.”
Uttarakhand Police
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. He announced separate compensation of 200,000 rupees ($2,378) for the families of the dead and 50,000 rupees ($594) for the injured.
Road accidents are common in the hilly districts of the Himalayas, where buses are the main mode of public transport. About 160,000 people die in road accidents in India every year – the highest in the world – mainly due to reckless driving and poorly maintained roads and vehicles.
In July, at least 18 people were killed when a double-decker passenger bus collided with a milk float in the state of Uttar Pradesh, and before that a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims. slipped and rolled into a deep crevasse on a mountain road in Indian-controlled Kashmir in May, killing at least 21 people.
