By IANS,
Shimla : Rescue workers Thursday managed to retrieve two bodies from the wreckage of the bus that skidded off the road and fell into a swollen rivulet in Shimla district two days ago, officials said. The toll has now touched three.
The bodies of a middle-aged woman and a 12-year-old girl were recovered from the wreckage.
“We managed to pull out the mangled remains of the bus from the rivulet this (Thursday) noon. Two bodies were recovered from it,” police officer Sohan Lal told IANS over phone from the accident spot.
The state-run bus with more than 30 passengers fell into the rivulet due to heavy rains near Kupvi in Chopal subdivision. Twenty-seven people were rescued and the body of one passenger was recovered on the day of accident.
“Now the rescue operation is almost over as divers have thoroughly searched sand and boulders where the bus was lying. If there was any body, it could have been swept away at the time of accident as the current is too strong,” he added.
The ill-fated bus on its way to Kupvi from Shimla skidded off the road as a portion of the road caved in due to rains.
Superintendent of Police R.M. Sharma said: “The search operation is almost over. But we have alerted the people settled in the downstream to report to the police if they spot any body in the stream,” he added.
He said that according to the bus conductor, 30-32 people were travelling in the bus.