At least 12 passengers were killed and two others missing after a Maharashtra state transport bus fell into the Narmada river from a bridge in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district on Monday, officials said.
A search operation involving personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Home Guard jawans is on to trace the missing passengers.
The deceased included the driver and conductor of the Indore-Amalner bus and three women, officials said.
The bus had left Indore city at 7.30 am for Amalner in Jalgaon district of Maharashtra, located about 260 km from Dhar.
Of the 12 deceased, seven passengers hailed from Maharashtra, four from Rajasthan and one from Indore.
Earlier in the day, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and MP's Indore Zone Inspector General of Police Rakesh Gupta had said that 13 people were killed in the accident which occurred around 10.15 am between Khalghat and Thigari in the Dhar district.
When contacted, MP Home Department's Additional Chief Secretary Dr Rajesh Rajora told PTI on Monday evening that 12 people were killed in the accident and not 13.
"Two passengers are possibly missing," he said, adding that the rescue operation is in full swing.
Rajora said all the 12 bodies have been identified through Aaadhar cards and by their kin.
The bodies have been sent to their homes in respective states after postmortem in separate ambulances, he added.
He said that 30 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), 70 of SDERF, 100 of Home Guard and police were engaged in the search and rescue operation.
Khargone collector, superintendent of police, and other top officials of Indore are overseeing the search and rescue operation at the spot, Rajora added.
According to MSRTC officials, the bus left Indore city around 7.30 am.
When the bus was passing the bridge between Khalghat and Thigari at around 10 am to 10.15 am, its driver apparently lost control at the wheel, following which the bus broke off the railings and plunged into the river.
Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra had said that 12 people had boarded the bus in Indore.
The mangled bus was later pulled out of the river with the help of a crane and traffic movement on the highway was restored, officials said.
The MSRTC has announced to set up a committe to probe the accident. In a release issued in the evening, the state transport corporation said all the 12 dead bodies have been retrieved from the river and identified.
Earlier in the day, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan informed his Maharashtra counterpart Eknath Shinde that a minister had rushed to the spot to oversee the rescue operation.
Shinde immediately spoke to the MP CM and requested him to ask the Khargone and Dhar district administrations to provide necessary assistance to the accident victims.
Shinde also directed Maharashtra Chief Secretary Manu Kumar Srivastava and MSRTC's vice chairman and managing director Shekhar Channe to provide all necessary help to the surviving passengers.
He has directed the MSRTC to ensure immediate payment of Rs 10 lakh ex gratia to relatives of each of the deceased passengers.
MP Minister Kamal Patel told reporters in Khargone district that the Central and the state governments will give a compensation of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 4 lakh to the families of each deceased.
The MSRTC has informed that Chandrakant Eknath Patil, 45, was driving the bus and Prakash Shravan Chaudhary, 40, was the conductor. Both were from Amalner in Jalgaon.
The other deceased from Maharashtra are identified as Neebaji Patil, 60, from Amalnergaon; Arva Bora, 27, hailing from Murtijapur, Akola; Kalpana Rao, 57, from Dhule; Vikas Bahre, 33, hailing from Dhule and Avinash Pardeshi, 30, from Amalner.
The four deceased from Rajasthan are -- Raju Maurya, 48, of Chittorgarh; Chetan Jangid, 35, hailing from Jaipur; Jagannath Joshi, 70, from Udaipur and Rukamani (age not known) of Udaipur.
One deceased from MP's Indore district was Saifuddin, 45, a statement of MP home department read.
The MSRTC has also set up a helpline for citizens and they can dial 022-23023940 to get information about the accident and their kin travelling in the bus.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the state government and the MSRTC were coordinating with the MP administration for the rescue operation and treatment of the injured.
Fadnavis also made a video call to Dhar Collector Pankaj Jain to get information about the accident spot and the rescue work there, according to sources.
The bus was more than 10 years old and its fitness certificate was about to expire on July 27, 2023, an MSRTC official said in Mumbai.
Its Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate and insurance were valid, an RTO official said.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Home Minister Amit Shah expressed grief over the accident.
PM Modi has announced Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the bus accident.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra opposition leader Ajit Pawar also expressed condolence, saying the bus accident was very distressing and sad.
