NEW DELHI– At least 10 people were killed and more than 30 others injured after a private bus fell into a gorge in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh Thursday, a senior police official said.
“The accident happened when the bus carrying a group of traders from the neighboring state of Punjab skidded off the road and rolled into the gorge near Dhaliara, some 45 km. from the state’s Kangra district,” local police chief Sanjeev Gandhi told the media.
While 10 people died on the spot, those injured have been admitted to the Civil Hospital at Dehra and the Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College in Tanda, the official said, adding efforts are on to establish the identities of the deceased.
He said that rescue teams have rushed to the spot and senior officials are overseeing the relief operations in the area.
The bus was carrying some 40 traders from Punjab’s Amritsar city who were going to a holy shrine in Kangra district. These traders used to visit the shrine every full moon day, local TV channels reported.
State Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has expressed grief over the incident and assured all help to the victims even as a probe has been ordered into the accident. XINHUA/PNA -northboundasia.com