Nine people were killed and 40 others injured after a private bus fell into a 500-feet deep gorge in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh on Friday, police said.
Videos circulating on social media showed local residents gathering at the accident site and helping in rescue efforts. They tried to pull the injured out of the damaged bus.
The accident took place in the Haripurdhar area when the bus, travelling from Shimla to Kupvi via Rajgarh veered off the road, and plunged nearly 500 feet down the hillside.
Police said the bus landed upside down after the fall near Haripurdhar village . Locals rushed to the spot for rescue and later informed the police about the incident.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Sangrah, Sunil Kayath, who is present at the accident site and overseeing the rescue operation, said nine passengers have lost their lives in the bus accident, while around 40 others were injured.
He said the rescue work is being carried out on a war footing and that all the injured and deceased are being shifted to nearby Sangrah and Dadahu hospitals.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu expressed deep grief over the loss of lives. In a statement issued here, he directed the district administration to provide all possible assistance to the families of those who died and ensure the best medical treatment for the injured.
Industry Minister and local MLA from the Shillai Assembly segment, Harshwardhan Chauhan, said the district administration had been put on alert and medical teams at Dadahu, Sangrah and Nahan hospitals were prepared to handle the emergency.
The cause of the accident is yet to be determined, the MLA said, while expressing condolences to the families of the victims.
According to area residents, the bus driver might have lost control of the vehicle, after which it skidded off the road due to frost accumulation.
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