Twelve persons, including a French national, and four women were killed and 27 injured in two separate road accidents in Uttarakhand on Wednesday, prompting CM Harish Rawat to ask officials to think up ways to rein in such mishaps.
Four women were among eight killed in Sult area of Almora district and 15 others injured when the bus they were travelling in fell into a deep gorge at Chaurighatti near Bhatronjkhan. The mishap occurred around 8 am, killing eight on the spot and leaving at least 15 injured, District Disaster Management Officer Rakesh Joshi told PTI on the phone.
Eight bodies were recovered from the spot located about 60 km from the district headquarters and 15 others who sustained injuries have been rushed to PHC Bhatronjkhan and the civil hospital Ranikhet, he said.
Four of the injured were later referred from Ranikhet civil hospital to Sushila Tiwari Hospital Haldwani, Joshi said. Though 15 injured have been hospitalised their number could be a little more as some who escaped with minor injuries were taken to hospital by relatives and acquaintances and were discharged after first aide, he said.
The Garhwal Motor Owners’ Union bus met with the accident when it was going from Masi in Almora district to Ramnagar in neighbouring Nainital district, Joshi said. The bodies have been identified as Kanti Devi (70), Asha Brijwasi (60), Gobindi Pandey (40); Bhairav Datta Joshi (36), Pradeep Thapliyal (40) and Sabbir Ahmad (32).
Two bodies one each male and female could not be identified, he said. In the other incident post afternoon four persons including the French national and a Delhi resident were killed and 12 others injured when a jeep (TATA Max) fell into the Yamuna at Silai bend on Delhi-Yamunotri road in Uttarkashi district. Martin (24), a French national, was among three persons killed on the spot, whereas Delhi resident Devanand Jha succumbed to injuries at a hospital, SDM Badkot Rajkumar said.