Kullu English news | Kullu, Latest News & Live Updates in English | English News (Latest English News) at Lokmattimes.com

They blame overloading and over 20-year-old mechanically unfit 44-seat mini bus for the accident in which 35 other passengers received grievous injuries.A total of 73 passengers were on board when the bus skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge near Banjar, some 50 km from Kullu town, on Thursday. Passengers were also sitting on bus's rooftop.Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur visited hospitals in Kullu town, some 200 km from the state capital, to enquire about the injured and meet the families of the victims.Thakur said a special campaign would be launched to identify and rectify the black spots on roads across the state so as to minimise accidents. New roads would allowed only after the approval by the road safety auditors.Transport Minister Govind Thakur, who was supervising the rescue and relief operation, told over phone that some of the passengers succumbed to injuries early Friday.Superintendent of Police Shalini Agnihotri said the private bus was on its way to Gada Gushaini from Kullu when the accident occurred.The injured included school and college students from Banjar and were returning home.A witness said rescuers had a tough time in extracting the victims from the vehicle and the gorge.The spot of the accident, about 250 km from the state capital, is one of the remotest places in the state.A bus driver, who is frequently travelling on this stretch, told reporters at the accident spot that the bus is normally overloaded with passengers."Since there is a scarcity of state-run bus service in most of the routes in the interior of Kullu district, people prefer to travel by private buses. The bus that met an accident was the last one on the route, so it is normally packed to capacity and travelling on bus rooftop is normal," he added.The Kullu district administration has provided Rs 50,000 as immediate relief to the next of kin of the deceased and injured persons. A magisterial probe has been ordered.( With inputs from IANS )

KulluFOLLOW

Kullu, Latest News

A white blanket of snow covered much of the landscape here as tourists poured into Himachal Pradesh towns of Shimla, Chail, Kasauli, Manali and Dalhousie on Wednesday. ...

The 17th century-town of Bilaspur, considered to be amongst the first planned towns in the hills of India was also submerged in the water of the Satluj river with the construction of the Bhakra Dam in 1962. ...

The local Indian Meteorological Department on Sunday said Himachal Pradesh received the highest ever rainfall for a 24-hour period, since records began almost 70 years ago. ...

Eighteen people, including three children, were killed on Sunday due to heavy rainfall-related incidents across Himachal Pradesh, officials said. ...

At least five people were killed and seven others were injured in rain-related incidents in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh on Sunday. ...

Hundreds remained stranded in Himachal Pradesh after incessant rainfall triggered landslides, snapped road links, closing of hydropower projects and release excess water from a dam, officials said on Sunday. ...

Two people stuck near Beas River have been rescued by the search and rescue team of Kullu's district administration on Wednesday. ...

The death toll in a road accident in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district has gone up to 44, officials said on Friday. ...