13 killed as bus falls into nullah
From Our Correspondent

CHAMBA, Nov 15 — At least 13 passengers were killed and 53 others wounded seriously today when an HRTC bus fell into a 100-metre-deep nullah near Tissa, about 80 km from here.

The District Magistrate, Mr K. Sanjaymurthy, has sanctioned an immediate relief of Rs 25,000 to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 15,000 each to the injured.

According to Mr B.S. Thakur, Additional Magistrate, the injured have been admitted to Tissa hospital and some of the serious have been referred to District Hospital, Chamba.

The deceased have been identified as Reshmo Devi, resident of Hasvani, Lal Dei of Bounderi, Surjeet Singh, a forest guard and resident of Chamba town, Narain Singh, a teacher of Thalli, Tej Singh of Thalli, Purushotam Ram of Jihni, Alam Singh of Jihni, Loju Ram of Majog and Kasam Khan of Naiban. Two new-born babies were among those killed.

However, the driver and conductor of the bus are stated to be out of danger.

According to official sources, the ill-fated bus, which left Chamba early in the morning, was bound for Bairagarh carrying about 60 passengers and met with the accident while negotiating a curve.

Mr Mohan Lal, Himachal Minister of State for Ayurveda, rushed to the accident site along with district officers and a team of doctors, including the Deputy Commissioner, Mr K. Sanjaymurthy, to supervise the rescue and relief operations.

Meanwhile, the Himachal Governor, Mrs V.S. Rama Devi, and the Chief Minister, Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, have expressed their sympathies with the bereaved families.

The Deputy Commissioner of Chamba has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident.

The Union Minister for Public Distribution, Mr Shanta Kumar, has expressed grief over the mishap.

The CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, and the PCC President, Mr Sat Mahajan, have also mourned accident.