12 feared killed, 22 injured in bus accident in HP

Dharamshala, June 20 (UNI) At least 12 pilgrims from Delhi were killed and 24 injured, two of them seriously, after a private bus in which they were travelling, fell into a gorge here in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh late tonight, Kangra ASP Santosh Patial said.

The bus, with 34 pilgrims from Delhi on board, plunged into the 400-foot gorge at Charan Khad at about 2335 hrs when it was on its way to Chamunda Temple from here, he told UNI.

Majority of the passengers were from Patel Nagar area of Delhi and were on a pilgrimage to temples of Himachal Pradesh, Mr Patial said.

The cause of the accident was, however, not immediately known.

Mr Patial said the two seriously injured have been referred to PGI in Chandigarh, while the remaining have been admitted at Dr Rajender Prasad Government Medical College and Hospital here, where the doctors described their condition stable.

The ASP said senior district officials, along with a medical team, had rushed to the accident site to supervise relief and rescue operations, which were being hampered due to pitch darkness at the site.

Mr Patial said it was the second major bus accident at the same spot in two years.

Nineteen Gujarati tourists were killed and 20 injured after a bus plunged into a gorge on June 21, 2005, when the driver failed to negotiate a sharp curve.

UNI