Mandi, September 1
Twenty-four persons were killed and nine others injured, two of them seriously, when the private bus they were travelling in fell into a gorge near Kangu village on the National Highway-21, about 30 km from here, today.
According to information, the accident occurred late in the evening as driver of the ill-fated vehicle — Sheetla Travels — failed to negotiate a turn on the highway. The bus was on its way from Bilaspur to Mandi.
Rescue operation was on till the filing of the report, with personnel from the district administration, police and fire, accompanied by kith and kin of those aboard the bus and nearby villagers, evacuating around 35 passengers.
All those injured were rushed to the Civil Hospital, Sundernagar. From there, nine of them were shifted to the Zonal Hospital, Mandi, where the condition of two of them was stated to be serious.
Those admitted at the Zonal Hospital were identified as Sapna, her husband Joginder Singh (of Jambli village), Kesar Singh (Kalod), Puran Chand (Bari), Mohamad Nanu, his father Monim and Bhupinder (Sundernagar). Their condition was reported to be stable.
DIG (Central Range) Anurag Garg, Mandi Deputy Commissioner Onkar Sharma and Mandi Superintendent of Police Sonal Agnihotri reached the spot to monitor the rescue operation.
Speaking to The Tribune, Garg said preliminary reports suggested that over-speeding led to the mishap, as the bus driver, who too was killed, failed to negotiate a U-turn and lost control over the vehicle.
