DHARAMSHALA, July 15:
Nine pilgrims were killed and 37 injured when a private bus carrying them from Kanpur to Jawalamukhi in Himachal Pradesh rolled down into a 40 feet deep gorge on the outskirts of Kangra town.
Kangra District Police Chief Diljeet Singh Thakur told that the bus carrying nearly 50 pilgrims from Kanpur was on way to Jawalamukhi when it rolled down into the gorge near old Kangra late last evening.
He said nine pilgrims were killed and 37 injured, five of them seriously. The injured were rushed to Dr R P Govt Medical College Tanda for treatment.
The local residents of old Kangra rushed to the spot and helped in bringing out the dead and injured from the bus.
The dead included six men and three women. Soon after the news about the accident reached the district headquarters here Deputy Commissioner R K Bharti and SSP Kangra D S Thakur reached the spot.
Cutters were used to bring out a woman trapped in the wreckage of the ill fated bus.
The pilgrims had returned from Amarnath pilgrimage yesterday and paid obeisance in the Bajjreshawri temple in Kangra town. They were going to Jawalamukhi when the accident took place.
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has expressed grief over the death of the pilgrims and directed the district authorities to take effective steps to provide immediate relief to the injured. (UNI)