At least eight persons, including four women, died and 15 others were injured when the bus they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge at a place between Machhot and Basot in Almora district on Wednesday. The toll might rise further with the condition of some of the injured remaining critical.
The deceased have been identified as Asha Brijwasi (53), resident of Haldwani, Pradeep Thapliyal (29), resident of Bhikiyasain, Shazir Ahmed (32), resident of Bhatraujkhan, Bhairav Dutt Joshi (36), resident of Chilkiya, Govind Pandey (40) and Kanti Devi (70), both residents of Chilkiya, Sansi Devi (52), resident of Nagar and Kheemdev (61), resident of Binauli.
The injured are Sundar Singh Negi (45), resident of Ratar, Hansi Devi (52), resident of Nagar, Neema Devi (17), resident of Danga Bhatraujkhan, Dilip Singh (33), resident of Bachhwaban, Tara Dutt Brijwasi (63), resident of Malli Bamauri, Hari Dutt Bhagat (75), resident of Amoli, Mohammad Mashtan (7), native of Bihar, Naveen Tiwari (46), resident of Bhikiyasain, Asha Devi (49), resident of Bhikiyasain, Vikas Pandey (23), resident of Bamyauli, Mehri Hasan (25), resident of Bareilly, Shiv Ram (50), resident of Haldwani, Govind Pandey (52), resident of Masi, Avtar Singh (29) and Kuber Singh (50), resident of Rapar.
It is learnt that the injured were rushed to the local hospital at Bhatrauj Khan. Police swung into action after the locals informed them about the incident. A team of doctors was also rushed to the accident site.
Uttarakhand Governor KK Paul expressed grief over the death.
The ill-fated bus of Garhwal Motors Union with 25 passengers on board was going from Chaukhutiya to Ramnagar.
The accident occurred around 7.30 am at Basot, around 12 km from Bhatraujkhan when the bus driver was supposed to have lost control while negotiating a sharp bend. The bus plunged into a deep gorge. The local residents rushed to the spot and tried to retrieve the passengers from the gorge. Bodies were later sent for postmortem.
Increasing road accidents being reported from various parts of the State has left the people scared. They complain that most of the accidents are due to reckless driving, overloading and drunk driving.
“Besides, the drivers working for additional hours are resulting in accidents,” said Kamal, a resident of Almora.