Nine persons including three women were killed and 29 others injured today when an overloaded private bus fell down in an 80-metre-deep gorge in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district, officials said. The deceased include two residents of Punjab’s Sangrur town.
The accident took place at Dhaain rivulet near the Chauhara dam. The ill-fated bus was on its way from Sanghni to Dalhousie and most of the passengers were local. Deceased were identifed as Rajkumar of Bayri village, Arun of Bragal village, Suman of Andnalai vilalge, Rajan and Shoki of Sangrurh, Chen Singh of Manjir village and Puni.
Seven bodies have been recovered from the wreckage of the vehicle, while the injured people have been hospitalized. Two persons died on the way to hospital. The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained.
Eyewitnesses said that the bad condition of the road was mainly responsible for the accident. Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Dev Vrat and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh have expressed grief over the accident.