Twenty-five pilgrims from Madhya Pradesh died and three were critically injured on Sunday evening when the bus in which they were travelling fell into a deep gorge en route to the Yamunotri temple in Uttarkashi district. The accident took place near Rikhavu khadd on the way to the Himalayan shrine around two kilometres from Damta on NH-94, Uttarkashi District Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said.
Along with the driver and an attendant, the bus was carrying 28 people from Panna district of Madhya Pradesh.
It met with the accident near Damta in Uttarkashi district. According to local officials, till the time of this report being filed, 18 bodies had been recovered and identified while the search was on for the rest of the victims.
Expressing grief at the mishap, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from PMNRF for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the accident. The injured would be given Rs 50,000 each.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed grief at the mishap and called Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to take stock of the situation. Shortly afterwards, the Chief Minister reached the disaster management control room in Dehradun to assess the situation and check the rescue and recovery efforts.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also phoned Dhami to enquire about the situation.
Earlier, soon after the accident caused reportedly by the driver losing control of the vehicle, the police and State Disaster Response Force teams reached the site to undertake rescue and relief operations. Later, at the disaster management control room CM Dhami said that the district administration had been directed to respond swiftly after the accident. Officials concerned have also been directed to conduct a probe into the accident.
It should be mentioned here that more than 15 lakh people have visited Uttarakhand for the Char Dham Yatra which began on May 3. About half a dozen road accidents have also occurred on the Yatra circuit so far.