Uttarakhand bus accident: 25 bodies recovered, many feared missing; CM reviews rescue ops

As many as 25 bodies have been recovered while many others are still feared missing after a bus travelling at a high speed fell into the Nayar river near the CMD band of Bironkhal in Uttarakhand's Pauri district, disaster control room officials said.

There were more than 50 processions in the bus while the rescue operation team has so far retrieved 25 bodies. Rescue operations are facing problems due to darkness. The death toll is expected to rise since there are many people reportedly missing.

On receiving information about the bus accident in Pauri district, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reached the disaster control room located at the Secretariat.

The accident occurred at around 7.30 pm. Rescue operations have been launched with the help of locals but the efforts of the rescuers are being hampered by darkness, it said.

There is no arrangement of lights at the site of the accident and the villagers are struggling to rescue those stuck inside the bus with the help of the flashlights on their mobile phones, eyewitnesses said.

He took detailed information about the accident from the officials and also spoke to Pauri District Magistrate over the phone and instructed him to carry out relief and rescue work with utmost vigil.

Dhami directed the State Disaster Control Room officials to continuously monitor the situation and be in constant touch with the district officials.

The Chief Minister added that all possible help will be provided at the government level and also spoke to the Lansdowne MLA over the phone.

Terming the bus accident as unfortunate, Dhami has directed to make arrangements for all possible treatment of the injured persons and speed up the relief and rescue operations with coordination.

The Chief Minister directed the Uttarakhand Secretary (Disaster Management), Ranjit Sinha, that the disaster management system should be operated continuously and the situation should be kept under constant watch.

Dhami himself is supervising all the preparations. Sub-Divisional Magistrate and ambulance, lights, rescue equipment, two ambulances from Ramnagar, one ambulance from Haldwani and relief materials are being sent to the affected site. Proper arrangements have been made in the hospitals of Ramnagar and Haldwani.

The District Magistrates of Nainital and Almora are themselves monitoring all the arrangements. The Chief Minister also inquired about the situation in Uttarkashi and has postponed all the government programmes proposed on Wednesday.