Death toll in Uttarakhand's bus accident rises to 26, rescue operation concludes

Uttarkashi, June 6

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The death toll in the Uttarkashi bus accident rose to 26 with the recovery of one more body after which the search and rescue operation was concluded, officials said on Monday.

A bus carrying pilgrims from Panna district in Madhya Pradesh fell into a deep gorge near Rikhavu khadd en route to the Yamunotri temple in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand on Sunday.

Besides the driver and the helper, there were 28 passengers on board.

Four injured people are under treatment while the death toll has risen to 26 with the recovery of one more body late in the night, Uttarkashi District Disaster Management Officer Devendra Patwal said.

Pulling out the bodies and looking for survivors in the night was a challenge for the police and State Disaster Response Force personnel, officials in Uttarkashi said.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had accepted his request that the bodies of pilgrims be brought to MP in the Indian Air Force aircraft.

Chouhan along with state Minister Bijendra Pratap Singh, Director General of Police Sudhir Saxena  and other senior officials had left for Dehradun on Sunday night.

Chouhan in a tweet on Monday said, “Urged Defence Minister Rajnath Singh ji over phone this morning that the bodies of our brothers and sisters from Panna, who died in the bus accident in Uttarakhand, be brought to Madhya Pradesh with respect by the IAF aircraft. He accepted my request. I express my heartfelt gratitude to him.”

The bodies will be brought to Dehradun by 10am on Monday and will then be flown by the IAF planes to Khajuraho (nearest airport from Panna) in MP by 2pm, the CM said in another tweet.

 “Our vehicles stationed in Khajuraho will then immediately take the bodies of pilgrims to their village. We are making efforts that the bodies be brought to Madhya Pradesh with full respect and the funeral be held today itself,” Chouhan tweeted.

The CM had on Sunday announced that Rs 5 lakh will be given to the kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured persons.

He had also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for announcing an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh to the kin of those killed in the bus accident and Rs 50,000 to the injured persons.