In a tragic incident, 36 people were killed including 10 women after a bus with 50 passengers onboard fell into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand’s Almora district.
According to the officials, twenty seven people were also left injured in the incident.
The incident unfolded at Marchula,Uttarakhand around 8: 45 am on Monday morning.
The seriously injured were airlifted to AIIMS Rishikesh and Sushila Tiwari Hospital Haldwani for better treatment.
Dr Madhur of AIIMS Rishikesh said, “We had received a call from the authorities about the patients being shifted to the hospital…I along with other doctor went to the Ramnagar hospital and evacuated the sick patient here after evaluting them..”
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the Ram Dutt Joshi Government Combined Hospital in Ramnagar to meet the injured and inquired about the health of the injured people. CM Dhami was accompanied by BJP MP Anil Baluni.
CM Dhami said, “Instructions have already been given that strict action will be taken against those who are guilty.”
Following the incident, CM Dhami ordered a magisterial inquiry and cancelled all his scheduled programs because of the incident.
Uttarakhand DGP Abhinav Kumar told ANI that Assistant Regional Transport Officers (ARTO) of Pauri and Almora have been suspended following the incident.
“Rescue and relief operations are continuing. All concerned personnel are engaged in rescue and relief measures. ARTO of Pauri and Almorah has been suspended. I will take a meeting of all SPs tomorrow,” DGP Kumar said. “This is a very serious incident.”
District Magistrate (DM) Dehradun Savin Bansal deployed the Sub-District Magistrate to take care of the injured and also instructed to cooperate with their kin, officials said.
The DM has nominated the Sub-District Magistrate Rishikesh as the liaison officer for coordination and contact with the kin of the victims and instructed the Additional District Magistrate Administration to keep regular coordination with AIIMS Rishikesh and give regular updates, they said.
Uttarakhand Health Minister Dhan Singh Rawat assured that “all necessary steps would be taken to prevent such accidents in the future.”
“Many people have died after a bus fell into a deep gorge. The Uttarakhand government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. Rs 1 lakh will be given by the state government to the injured. An ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakhs will be given to the next of kin of each deceased by the state government. Three injured have been airlifted to AIIMS Rishikesh, out of which the condition of the injured is stable…The incident is very unfortunate…Proper steps will be taken to ensure that these kinds of incidents don’t take place in the future,” he said.
President Droupdai Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Leader of Oppostion in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi expresssed grief over the loss of lives.
PM Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakhs from Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of each deceased. The injured will be given Rs 50,000, the Prime Minister’s office said. (ANI)
