India: At least 7 dead, 27 injured after bus carrying pilgrims falls into gorge in Uttarakhand

At least seven people were killed while 27 were left injured after a tourist bus carrying pilgrims fell into a gorge in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand on Sunday (August 20).

The bus carrying the pilgrims had set off from the western state of Gujarat and plunged into the gorge from theGangotri national highway in the Uttarkashi district.

StateChief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who was in the capital city of Delhi at the time of the accident, spoke to the officials and directed them to carry out relief and rescue operations at a fast pace.

Consequently, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster ResponseForce (SDRF) teams were pressed into action for rescue operations. The local villagers who arrived on the scene first also helped the authorities with the evacuation.

Notably,all the pilgrims were originally from Bhavnagar district in Gujarat, while the driver and conductor were from Dehradun, according to Devendra Patwal, the district disaster management officer.

"Five individuals with serious injuries have been transferred to a higher medical facility in Dehradun," said Patwal.

The remains of the seven pilgrims were retrieved by the rescue teams and have been sent for postmortem examination. Meanwhile, the cause of the accident is currently being probed after authorities ordered an inquiry.

Heavy rainfall in northern states

Notably, the northern states of India have been hit by heavy monsoon rains, leading to treacherous conditions. Earlier on Sunday, the weather office had issued an orange alert for Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, warning of "extremely bad" weather with the potential of disruption on commute.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, Uttarakhand is set to witness heavy to very heavy rainfall over the coming days with estimates ranging from 115.6 to 204.4 mm.

(With inputs from agencies)

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