Minibus falls into river in Uttarakhand, 14 killed, 12 hurt

Rudraprayag, June 15

Fourteen tourists were killed and 12 injured when a minibus skidded off the road and fell into the Alaknanda on the Badrinath national highway in Uttarakhand on Saturday, officials said.

The vehicle carrying 26 persons, most of them from Delhi, rolled 500m down the gorge, they said. The tourists were on the way to Chopta when the accident happened around 11 am near Raitoli village, they added. Ten people died on the spot while four others succumbed later during treatment in hospitals, according to the Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Force.

Rescue and relief personnel had to navigate extremely adverse terrain to reach the badly mangled vehicle.

The driver was among the dead. Victims of the accident were residents of Noida, Mathura, Jhansi of UP, Haldwani, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana.