Himachal Pradesh: At least seven persons, including two women, were killed and nine injured when a private bus fell into a gorge at Haripur Dhar-Solan road on Sunday.
All seven persons were killed on the spot and most of the injured were in a critical condition, Ashok Chauhan, Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Sangrah, said. The bus, with 20 passengers on board, was going from village Ratwa in Sirmour to Baddi in Solan when it skidded off the road and rolled nearly 500 meters down a gorge near village Chail, about 110 km from here.
The SDM said that though the actual cause of accident would be ascertained after a thorough inquiry, prima facie it appears that the driver might have failed to negotiate a sharp curve and the bus fell into the gorge.
All the people on the bus including the driver, who was killed in the accident, and the conductor were residents of villages in Haripur Dhar area, the SDM added. Chauhan, who rushed to the spot alongwith police personal and medical team, supervised the relief and rescue operations.
Four injured persons have been admitted to hospital at Rajgarh and Haripur Dhar while five critically injured persons have been referred to zonal hospital at Solan. The deceased have been identified as the driver of the bus Kapil, Dharam Pal, Sant Ram, Anjana, Lakshmi, Jagdish and Yashpal.
The bodies have been sent for post mortem and a case has been registered.
