16 including school children killed, as bus falls into gorge in HP

Shimla: A private bus fell into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district on Monday, leaving 16 people, including some school children, dead, a senior official said.

People in the area began the rescue operation even before the local authorities reached the spot.

Kullu Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Garg said the bus, headed to Sainj, fell into the gorge near Jangla village around 8.30 am. District officials and rescue teams have reached the spot, he said, adding that the injured were being rushed to a nearby hospital.

At least 40 students were on the bus when the accident took place, the officials said.

Most of the victims were locals and were going to schools and offices.

Visuals showed the heavily damaged vehicle. Eyewitnesses said the administration has been facing a tough time extricating the victims from the badly-mangled bus.

The Prime Minister's office has tweeted that the families of those killed in the accident would receive a compensation of ₹ 2 lakh each.

The bus accident in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh is heart-rending. In this tragic hour, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. I hope those injured recover at the earliest. The local administration is providing all possible assistance to those affected: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 4, 2022

"The Prime Minister has approved an ex-gratia of ₹ 2 lakh each from PMNRF for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to the tragic bus accident in Himachal Pradesh. The injured would be given ₹ 50,000 each," it said.