Twenty-five people were killed and three critically injured after a bus carrying pilgrims fell into a gorge in Indian Stage of Uttarakhand on Sunday. The bus, with 28 passengers, was enroute Yamunotri, a major pilgrim spot in the hill state.
These 25 pilgrims were from Madhya Pradesh. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said he along with state minister Bijendra Pratap Singh, DGP Sudhir Saxena, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajesh Rajora and the entire team are leaving for Dehradun immediately in the night, reports NDTV.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed condolences to those "who have lost their loved ones" in the accident. PM Modi has also announced a compensation of ₹ 2 lakhs each for the families of those who lost their lives in the accident and ₹ 50,000 each for the injured in a bus accident in Uttarakhand.
"Under the supervision of the state government, the local administration is engaged in all possible assistance on the spot," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.
The state administration and rescue teams are at the spot, informed Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, adding, he is keeping an eye on the situation after reaching the disaster control room.
Home Minister Amit Shah said he has spoken to the Chief Minister about the incident and said rescue operations were ongoing with injured were being taken to the nearest hospital.
"The National Disaster Response Force is also reaching the spot soon," he said in a tweet in Hindi.
An unprecedented number of pilgrims are visiting several Himalayan temples, which are a part of the Char Dham yatra, this year with the Covid-induced restrictions no longer in place.
Char Dham Yatra began with the opening of Gangotri and Yamunotri portals for devotees on May 3. While Kedarnath re-opened on May 6, the doors of Badrinath opened on May 8.