3 women dead, 26 people injured as bus falls into gorge in Uttarakhand

Three women died and twenty-six people were injured when a bus driver lost control over his vehicle on the Gangotri National Highway in Uttarakhand. It fell into a gorge near Gangnani , police said on 12 June.

According to the police, the incident occurred 50 km from Gangnani on the night of 11 June. As the driver lost control, the bus broke the crash barrier, tumbled down the gorge and got stuck on a tree before it could hit the bottom.

A lot of lives by the tree, which prevented the bus from falling into the Bhagirathi river, an official said.

The bus was heading towards Uttarkashi from Gangotri with 29 people, including the driver and his assistant, on board, a police officer said. Rescue and relief work began promptly.

According to the officer, the injured were brought out of the bus through the windows and sent to Uttarkashi District Hospital and Bhatwadi Health Centre.

Of the 26 people injured, 12 were stated to be in serious condition and have been referred to a hospital in Rishikesh, the police said.

The deceased have been identified as Deepa Varsaliya (55) and Meena Rekwal, both residents of Haldwani, and Neema Keda (57) of Rudrapur in Udham Singh Nagar district, the police said.

Most of the devotees were from Rudrapur, Haldwani or Lalkuan in Uttarakhand, while four others were from Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district and one from Bulandshahr.

Uttarkashi SP (superintendent of police) Arpan Yaduvanshi spoke to the injured people and said prima facie, the cause of the accident seemed to be brake failure.

At this same place, a truck had fallen into a gorge in 2010, killing 27 kanwariyas; in 2023, seven pilgrims had died in a bus accident here.

Edited PTI inputs