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Rudraprayag: 3 dead, 9 more missing after Char Dham pilgrim bus falls in river
A police officer said there was no trace of the nine people who were washed away by the strong currents of the river
DEHRADUN: Three pilgrims were killed and nine others are missing after a bus carrying Char Dham pilgrims veered off the Badrinath national highway between Rudraprayag and Gauchar, and fell into the Alaknanda river on Thursday morning, police said.
Eight more passengers are injured and are being treated.
A police officer said there was no trace of the nine people who were washed away by the strong currents of the river, and rescue operations are underway at the spot. Among the nine people who are missing are a jeweller and a lawyer from Rajasthan’s Udaipur, who were in Uttarakhand with their extended families for the pilgrimage.
The 31-seater bus headed to Badrinath was carrying pilgrims from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra when the accident took place at about 7:50am.
Bus driver Sumit Kumar, who survived the crash, said he wasn’t speeding but lost control of the bus after a head-on collision with a speeding truck.
Kumar said the truck hit the bus on his side of the vehicle, “after which I lost control and the bus fell into Alaknanda”.
Police said the driver’s version of the events was yet to be verified. For now, the priority is to help the victims.
State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) media in-charge Vineet Devrani said eight passengers were thrown out of the bus due to the impact before the vehicle submerged. “Rescue teams from the police, fire department, SDRF, and local residents reached the site promptly and began rescue operations. The injured who were thrown out were brought to the road and taken to the Rudraprayag district hospital”, he said.
Rudraprayag chief medical officer Ram Prakash said four of them were “critically injured” and have been airlifted to AIIMS Rishikesh 130km away. “The four individuals airlifted to AIIMS Rishikesh include Deepika Soni, Hemlata Soni, Ishwar Soni, and the driver, Sumit Kumar,” he said.
Rudraprayag superintendent of police (SP) Akshay Prahlad Konde said three people, Vishal Soni, 42, a resident of Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh, Dreamy, 17, a resident of Surat, Gujarat and Gauri Soni, 41, a resident of Rajgarh, MP, died in the accident.
The eight injured passengers have been identified as Deepika Soni, 42, from Sirohi, Rajasthan, Hemlata Soni, 45, from Rajasthan, Ishwar Soni, 46, from Surat, Gujarat; Amita Soni, 49, from Mira Road, Maharashtra, Bhavna Soni, 43, from Surat, Gujarat, Bhavya Soni, 7, from Surat, Gujarat, Parth Soni, 10, from Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Sumit Kumar, 23, the driver from Haridwar”, he said.
The SP said nine people who are missing include Ravi Bhavsar, 28, from Udaipur, Rajasthan, Mauli Soni, 19, from Surat, Gujarat, Lalit Kumar Soni, 48, from Gogunda, Rajasthan, Sanjay Soni, 55, from Udaipur, Rajasthan, Mayuri, 24, from Surat, Gujarat, Chetna Soni, 52, from Udaipur, Rajasthan, Cheshta, 12, from Surat, Gujarat, Ranjana Ashok, 54, from Mira Road, Maharashtra, and Sushila Soni, 77, from Udaipur, Rajasthan.
