Five dead, 35 injured as bus falls into gorge in Himachal's Chamba

Shimla, March 10

Five people died and 35 were injured as a bus coming from Uttarakhand fell into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district on Tuesday morning, police said.

The accident took place at Chehli village in the Chamba Sadar area around 6.45 am.

The Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus was on its way to Chamba from Dehradun, Chamba SP Monika Bhatungru said.

The injured, including several women and children, have been sent to the Chamba medical college for treatment. They were rescued with the help of the fire brigade personnel and locals, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Yogesh Kumar (47), Pooja Kumari (28), Rajiv Kumar (37), Mani Ram (33) and Dawat Ali (30), police added.

Prima facie, it has been found that the accident took place due to negligent and rash driving, police said, adding that a case was registered against bus driver Naresh Kumar of Kangra’s Jawali under Sections 279, 337 and 304-A of IPC.

Most of the deceased and the injured belong to Chamba district.

Meanwhile, talking to the media in state capital Shimla, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur expressed grief over the accident. — PTI