Uttarkashi accident: 22 victims flown to Indore

The plane also carried six injured passengers, under supervision of a medical team.

Dehradun, May 25: Bodies of 22 pilgrims, who died in a bus accident in Uttarkashi on Tuesday, were airlifted to Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday by a special aircraft.

The group from Indore had gone on an annual 'Chaar Dhaam Yatra' when the bus plunged into a deep gorge at Nalupani near Gangotri.

On Tuesday night, a bus carrying 29 people from Uttarkashi to Gangotri falls into the river. According to sources, so far 24 bodies have been recovered and 6 other who were injured were admitted to hospital.

All were residents of Madhya Pradesh. The mishap occurred at around 6 pm as the bus fell 300 metres down the road into the river, Uttarkashi District Magistrate Ashish Shrivastava said. Rescue efforts by the SDRF, the ITBP and police personnel under the supervision of senior officials continued in darkness.

Reacting to the incident, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed and Rs 50,000 to injured in Uttarkashi accident. Also, Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced an ex gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed in Uttarkashi bus accident.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan expressed grief over the tragedy and issued instructions for immediate aid to the victims. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu also instructed authorities to arrange a special train bogey to bring bodies to Madhya Pradesh on MP CM's request.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced ex gratia of Rs two lakh for the next of kin of each of those killed in a bus accident in Uttarakhand.

"My prayers and solidarity with those who lost their loved ones in the unfortunate bus accident in Uttarkashi. May the injured recover soon," Modi said in a tweet.

He also announced Rs 50,000 from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for those seriously injured.

OneIndia News