Nearly two dozen pilgrims from Madhya Pradesh returning from Gangotri to Rishikesh are feared dead after the bus they were travelling in plunged into the river at Nalupani at Dharasu in Uttarkashi district on Tuesday. Of the injured persons rescued, seven are reported to be critical. While the officials involved in the rescue operation at the accident site could not be contacted despite repeated attempts, sources state that about 20 persons are feared dead in the mishap. Till the time of this report being filed, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) did not confirm any deaths stating that they would have to await official confirmation from the district authorities. The mishap occurred at around 5.30 pm according to the SEOC. Sources state that the river is deep at the accident site which was posing problems in the rescue work. About two dozen pilgrims from Indore, Madhya Pradesh were travelling in the bus.
Notably, five persons-all women- had died and 11 persons had been injured when the boulders had rolled down from lohani hills and had fallen on the bus they had been travelling in at lohani on the Almora- Haldwani highway in Nainital district on Monday.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat expressed deep grief over the deaths of the pilgrims in the road accident reported in Uttarkashi district on Tuesday. CM directed the administrative officers to conduct rescue operations.
Earlier on May 6, four persons had died and six others had been injured-all pilgrims- while they had been on way to Kedarnath shrine when the car they were sitting in slipped into a gorge of 250 metres around 25 kilometres away from Ghansali in Tehri district. The deceased and the injured had hailed from Amravati in Maharashtra.