At least 45 people, including 10 women and nine children, lost their lives after a private bus plunged into the Tons River in the Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh around 10:30 am on Wednesday. The conductor of the bus has been arrested.
The accident happened in the remote Nerwa area of the Shimla district. There were 47 passengers in the bus, which was travelling from Vikasnagar to Tuini in Uttarakhand, the conductor told the police. There were only two survivors of the accident: the bus conductor and a girl who managed to jump off the vehicle. According to the conductor, most of the passengers belonged to Uttarakhand.
The accident took place on the Uttarakhand-Himachal border in Sirmaur district in Himachal territory, Deputy Commissioner Shimla, Rohan Chand Thakur was quoted by the Indian Express as saying.
The Sirmaur Police, along with a team of doctors, reached the spot and begun the rescue and relief operations at the accident spot, which is located around 190 kms from Shimla. A commandant from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) left for the accident site with a helicopter from Dehradun to assist in the rescue operation.
Thakur was at the accident site along with Shimla Superintendent of Police DW Negi to supervise the relief and rescue operation. He was quoted by the Indian Express as saying that such a heavy toll was caused by the "steep 90-degree straight fall of the vehicle." He added that the bus had rolled down nearly 250 metres.
The conductor told the police that the bus had developed a snag before it began the journey from Vikasnagar to Tuini in Uttarakhand. However, the snag had been repaired. But a loud noise was heard when the bus reached close to the accident site. The conductor immediately jumped out of the bus and alerted the passengers as well.
SP Negi said that the accident could have been caused due to rash and negligent driving. However, he also added that the condition of the roads could also be a cause and that an investigation into the incident was underway.
Eyewitnesses told the daily that it was challenging to remove the bodies from the accident spot. "Till 6 pm, we managed to take 20 bodies to the road area for postmortem and handing over to the families. Emotions were running high and the mood is difficult to describe. There is no history of such a heavy toll in the entire area," Deputy Commissioner Thakur said.
Around 26 bodies had been identified and handed over to the relatives while 19 bodies were yet to be identified till late Wednesday evening. The Shimla Police have requested family members to visit the Community Health Centre in Nerwa to identify the bodies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 for those critically injured from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. The Uttarakhand government has announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the accident. The government will give Rs 50,000 to the severely injured and Rs 25,000 for those injured in the accident.
Himachal Pradesh Transport Minister GS Bali also announced a compensation of Rs 50,000 to the families of the deceased. Bali said that a committee headed by the regional transport officer in Shimla, was set up to determine the cause of the accident. The committee will submit its report within a week, he added.
Additional Chief Secretary (disaster management) Tarun Shridhar was quoted by the Indian Express as saying that the local administration was prompt in its response to the tragedy but the casualties were high and not much could be done in terms of emergency medical care. However, rescue teams camped at the site to remove the bodies from the river and also completed the legal formalities besides providing relief to the families of the deceased, Shridhar added.
Death toll rises to 45 people after a bus fell into Tons river in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh pic.twitter.com/EALnNmCy7T
— ANI (@ANI_news) April 19, 2017
