Dharamsala, June 20
At least 20 persons, including women, were feared dead when the tourist bus they were travelling in fell into a 200-foot gorge in a flowing nullah in the hill town here at about 11.25 pm tonight.

Local people living in nearby colonies rushed to the spot immediately and launched a rescue operation.

The police reached the spot half-an-hour later even though the incident took place within one kilometre distance from the city police station. Ambulances came after about 45 minutes from the hospital that is also situated at about 1.2 kilometre distance from the spot.

When reports last came in, 12 bodies had already been retrieved from the bus while the injured were rushed to Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College and Hospital here.

Of them, 10 had suffered multiple injuries. Doctors attending on them said there condition was serious.

The bus (DL-I-PC-7676) that met with the accident belonged to “Pritpal Tourist Coach”, a Delhi-based travel company. There were 37 tourists in the bus, besides two staff members.

All passengers believed to be from New Delhi. Since no one among the injured was able to communicate properly, police officials could not confirm this immediately.

Senior police and civil officials, including the sub-divisional magistrate, also rushed to the spot to oversee the rescue operation.

When this correspondent reached the spot, it was found that no proper arrangement of lighting was made by the administration at the site that hampered the rescue operation.