Bodies of 26 passenger recovered from bus accident scene in Uttarkashi

|HT|

Rescuers have recovered the bodies of 26 passengers at the bus accident scene in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district. The bus carrying 30 people, including 28 pilgrims, to Yamunotri fell into a 250-meter-deep gorge on Sunday evening around 7 pm. It was part of 30 pilgrim buses from Madhya Pradesh’s Panna district.

Rescuers said the search operation continued till 2.30 am and that the bus driver is among the four injured while his helper died in the accident.

District disaster management officer (Uttarkashi) Devendra Patwal said given the terrain and darkness, the recovery of bodies took some time. “Twenty-five of the bodies are being sent to Dehradun from where they will be sent to Madhya Pradesh. The body of the bus helper, who was from Almora, has been kept at the local community health centre. His family is coming to take the body.” Lalita Negi, a spokesperson for the State Disaster Response Force, said their teams coordinated with the police and fire service for the rescue operation in the dark and extreme conditions.

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced ₹1 lakh compensation for the passengers who died and ₹50,000 for the injured.

In a tweet, his Madhya Pradesh counterpart, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, said the bodies will be flown around 2 pm.

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