Shimla, June 16: Ten pilgrims were killed and 45 injured when a bus carrying them fell into a gorge near Dhaliara, 60 km from Dharamsala, on Thursday. The victims hail from Amritsar. Sources said the driver of the bus carrying the pilgrims lost control of it while negotiating a sharp curve as he tried to save a collision with a car coming from the opposite direction.
He also hit a car coming from the other side, but no harm was caused to the occupants of the car. The bus rolled down a 30-ft gorge near Dhaliara. The pilgrims were traders from Amritsar who regularly paid obeisance at the Chintpurni Temple in Una and the Jawalaji Temple in Kangra on every ‘Sagrandh’ (full moon night).
They were going to Jwalamukhi after paying obeisance at the Chintpurni Temple when the accident took place. The sources said 10 pilgrims were killed on the spot. Some of the victims got trapped in the mangled remains of the bus. Local residents helped in taking out the injured, who were later shifted to the Dehra Government Hospital.
The deceased have been identified as Shiv Kumar, Charan Kaur and Santosh, all residents of Amritsar. Sanjeev Gandhi, SP, Kangra, said, “Other deceased are yet to be identified. Most of the injured have been shifted to the Tanda medical college. We are awaiting information from the relatives of the injured and deceased to identify them.
The district authorities have provided basic aid and other facilities to the injured.”He said he, along with Deputy Commissioner CP Verma, had visited the accident site. The place where the accident occurred was a black spot as there was a sharp turn on the road there. “The PWD authorities have been directed by the authorities to remove the black spot,” he added.
Source Tribune India
