 | « Back to article | Print this article |
The death toll in the Uttarkashi bus accident rose to 26 with the recovery of one more body after which the search and rescue operation was concluded, officials said on Monday.
A bus carrying pilgrims from Panna district in Madhya Pradesh fell into a deep gorge near Rikhavu khadd en route to the Yamunotri temple in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand on Sunday.
Besides the driver and the helper, there were 28 passengers on board.
Four injured people are under treatment while the death toll has risen to 26 with the recovery of one more body late in the night, Uttarkashi District Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said.
Pulling out the bodies and looking for survivors in the night was a challenge for the police and State Disaster Response Force personnel, officials in Uttarkashi said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has accepted his request that the bodies of pilgrims be brought to MP in an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft.
Chouhan along with state minister Bijendra Pratap Singh, Director General of Police Sudhir Saxena and other senior officials had left for Dehradun on Sunday night.
The MP Home Department had also issued a list of 28 passengers from Panna who were travelling in the ill-fated bus.
After reaching Uttarakhand, Chouhan met the injured persons and reviewed the arrangements for their treatment.
Chouhan in a tweet on Monday said, 'Urged Defence Minister Rajnath Singh ji over phone this morning that the bodies of our brothers and sisters from Panna, who died in the bus accident in Uttarakhand, be brought to Madhya Pradesh with respect by the IAF aircraft. He accepted my request. I express my heartfelt gratitude to him.'
The post-mortem of the victims was conducted in the night, he said.
The bodies will be brought to Dehradun by 10 am on Monday and will then be flown by IAF planes to Khajuraho (nearest airport from Panna) in MP by 2 pm, the CM said in another tweet.
'Our vehicles stationed in Khajuraho will then immediately take the bodies of pilgrims to their village. We are making efforts that the bodies be brought to Madhya Pradesh with full respect and the funeral be held today itself,' Chouhan tweeted.
The CM had on Sunday announced that Rs 5 lakh will be given to the kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured persons.
He had also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for announcing an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh to the kin of those killed in the bus accident and Rs 50,000 to the injured persons.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind and Uttarakhand Governor Gurmit Singh expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident.
'The news of the bus accident in Uttarakhand is very painful. I express my condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. Under the supervision of the state government, the local administration is engaged in all possible assistance on the spot,' the Prime Minister's Office said, quoting Modi.
'The prime minister has announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the PMNRF for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the accident in Uttarakhand. The injured would be given Rs 50,000 each,' it added.
President Kovind expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased.
'I feel pained by the sad news of the death of people in a bus accident in Uttarakhand,' he said in a tweet in Hindi.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Dhami after the accident and said local rescue teams were engaged in the rescue operation, while National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel would also reach the spot shortly.
'It is very sad to hear about the bus of devotees falling into a gorge in Uttarakhand. I have spoken to Chief Minister @pushkardhami on this. Local administration and SDRF teams are engaged in rescue work and the injured are being taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. NDRF is also reaching there soon,' Shah said in a tweet in Hindi.
The Himalayan shrines of Yamunotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath and Gangotri are commonly known as Char Dham.