26 Dead After Bus Falls Into Gorge in Uttarkashi; PM Modi Announces Compensation

Six pilgrims are injured and are undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

Wreckage of a bus after it fell into a deep gorge, in Uttarkashi district, Sunday, 5 June, 2022.

(Photo: PTI)

A bus carrying 28 pilgrims, and two others from Madhya Pradesh's Panna district fell into a gorge near Damta in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, leaving 26 people dead on Sunday, 5 June, news agency ANI reported.

"The bus was carrying 28 pilgrims from Panna district in Madhya Pradesh, out of which 14 were men and 14 were women," Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar told the agency.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Sate Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams reportedly hurried to the spot for safety and rescue efforts.

By Monday morning, Uttarakhand Police indicated that the search and rescue operations had concluded, and all those injured were moved for their treatment, ANI reported.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had left for Dehradun to take stock of the efforts late on Sunday night, and held a meeting with officials.

Speaking to ANI, CM Chouhan said on Monday,

"25 dead bodies were recovered from the spot. The post-mortems were done at night itself. We contacted Air Force and requested them to arrange a plane to take the bodies to Khajuraho."

"We'll try to perform the last rites today," he added.

Earlier on Sunday, the CM had said that discussions on the post-mortem of the dead were going on and that the bodies will be taken to Dehradun for the same.

"Discussions were held on doing the postmortem of the dead ones. It has been decided that they would be brought to Dehradun for the postmortem. We are contacting the relatives. We will make arrangements to transport them according to the wishes of the relatives. We are working on both road and air mode of transport," he had told ANI.

The CM, along with Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, are scheduled to visit the site of the accident on Monday.

PM Modi, CM Chouhan Announce Ex Gratia Sum

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, announced ex gratia sum of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the kin of those who lost their lives during the accident.

Meanwhile, CM Chouhan indicated that the families of the victims would receive Rs 5 lakh each, and families of those injured would receive aid of Rs 50,000.

(With inputs from ANI.)