By IANS
Pune/Nagpur : At least 38 people were killed and 41 injured when a bus carrying them from Nashik to Mumbai in Maharashtra fell into a gorge, police officials said Monday.
The bus carrying 79 pilgrims from the Saptashringi Devi temple in Vani village near Nashik feel into a 250 metre deep gorge at Ganesh Ghat in Saptashringagad, about 240 km from state capital Mumbai.
Police officials said the accident happened around 10 p.m. Sunday.
The bus was one of the two owned by Mumbai-based Lucky Travels Company that the pilgrims had hired for their annual pilgrimage to Shani Shingnapur, Shirdi and Saptashringi.
While 24 of the injured, some of whom are in a serious condition, are being treated at the Nashik Civil Hospital, 24 more have been admitted to the Kalwan sub district hospital, sub-inspector R.S. Patil told IANS.
“Top police and government officers accompanied by rescue teams who rushed to the site a few hours after the accident are still engaged in relief operations,” he said.
Patil said some pilgrims had shifted from one bus to the other while leaving Saptashringi Devi temple and this has led to confusion over the exact number of passengers travelling in the bus that met with the accident and their identities.
Sources said the bus fell into the gorge after the driver lost control of the steering wheel while negotiating a hairpin bend.
Nikhil Gupta, superintendent of police (Nashik Rural), told IANS: “The bus was shattered, leaving the front and back pieces apart. The rescue operations were conducted within three and a half hours of the accident. The local people from the rural area were extremely helpful.”
Another police official said: “It was pitch dark in the valley and the sound of shrieks and moans of the injured was the only guide for the police and medical relief teams from Nashik to lead them to the spot.”