Almora Bus Accident: The accident was so horrific that the bodies had to be taken out by cutting the bus... the entire vehicle was crushed after hitting a stone

A bus full of passengers went out of control and fell into a 150-foot-deep gorge in Marchula of the Salt development block of Almora district. 36 people died in the accident while 27 were injured. Six passengers were airlifted from Ramnagar Hospital and sent to AIIMS Rishikesh. 11 have been referred to other places. Nine people are undergoing treatment in Ramnagar Hospital. The breakage of the spring while turning the bus at a dangerous turn is said to be the cause of the accident.

There were 63 passengers in the 42-seater bus of Garhwal Motor Users Cooperative Society (Users). 28 people died on the spot in the accident, while eight died while being taken to the hospital. Apart from ten women, the deceased also includes the elderly and children.

CM ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered Divisional Commissioner Deepak Rawat to conduct a magisterial inquiry. At the same time, the Divisional Transport Officer in charge of Pauri Kulwant Singh and the Regional Assistant Transport Officer of Ramnagar Neha Jha have been suspended with immediate effect. The CM has announced to give Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased.

The bus's spring broke and fell into the ditch.

The bus left for Ramnagar from Kinath in Pauri Garhwal at around 6.30 am on Monday. There were more passengers due to the festival, due to which the bus got overloaded. At around 8 o'clock, near the Kupi Band of Marchula, the driver tried to take a sharp turn, when the bus's spring broke and the vehicle went out of control and fell into the ditch.

The villagers were the first to start the relief work.

Hearing the screams, the villagers of Kupi and surrounding areas reached the spot and started the relief work. Later, police and National and State Disaster Response Force personnel also reached. The injured were taken out and taken to the hospitals of Devyal and Ramnagar in private vehicles. From here, the seriously injured were referred to Sushila Tiwari Hospital Haldwani. About an hour after receiving the information about the accident, the SDRF and administration team reached the spot, and relief and rescue work started at a rapid pace.

Fitness and permit of bus registered in Pauri is valid till March 2025

The accident bus is registered in Pauri RTO. RTO Pauri Dwarika Prasad said that the bus has 43 seats. The fitness and permit of the bus is valid till March 12, 2025. RTO said that continuous checking of buses is going on in remote areas. This year, the RTO team has seized and challaned 113 buses, taxis, and maxis for not updating their fitness, etc.

The accident was so horrific that the bus had to be cut to take out the bodies.

When the bus fell into the ditch, it hit the stone below and got crushed. The passengers in it got buried in the chassis of the bus. People who reached the spot tried to take out the people buried in the bus with their efforts but were unsuccessful. About an hour later, when the SDRF team reached the spot, the soldiers took out the bodies by cutting the chassis of the bus with a cutter. Local people say that if the cutter had been available immediately after the accident, more passengers could have been saved. Many passengers trapped in the bus died while waiting to get out.