14 killed as bus rolls down gorge in U'khand's Tehri

New Tehri: An Uttarakhand Roadways bus rolled down a 250-metre deep gorge around 15 kilometre from Chamba in Tehri district early on Thursday killing fourteen persons, including two women, and injuring seventeen others, officials said.

The ill-fated bus was on way to Haridwar from Bhatwari when it met with the accident, the second such tragedy in the hill state this month.

The accident occurred near Kirgani on the Chamba-Uttarkashi highway at around 8.20 am today when the bus plunged into a 250-metre deep gorge killing thirteen persons on the spot and and leaving eighteen injured, Tehri District Magistrate Sonika said.

One of the injured persons died at a hospital during treatment, she added.

There were 31 passengers, mostly locals, in the bus when the accident took place, she said.

Seventeen of the injured were under treatment at different hospitals, officials said.

Eleven people, who sustained serious injuries, were flown in choppers to AIIMS, Rishikesh, while the rest were under treatment at district hospital in Baurari and Masihi hospital, Chamba, they said.

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat expressed deep grief at the loss of lives in the accident and announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of those killed and Rs 50,000 for those injured.

The chief minister also visited AIIMS, Rishikesh, to enquire about the injured persons admitted here and assured Director Ravikant of all support from the state government in their treatment.

He said the accident was sad and a magisterial inquiry had been ordered to ascertain what caused it.