14 killed as bus falls into gorge in Uttarakhand

Dehradun : Fourteen persons were killed and 17 injured when a state-run bus fell into a deep gorge in Tehri in Uttarakhand on Thursday, police said.

The disaster occurred on the Rishikesh-Gangotri highway when the driver of the bus belonging to Uttarakhand State Transport Corp lost control over it near Sulyadhar.

The bus was headed for Haridwar from Bhatwari in Uttarkashi. There were 31 passengers in the 40-seater vehicle, an official told IANS.

Six critically injured persons have been flown to Rishikesh in a chopper.

Locals and disaster management teams pulled out the dead and the injured from the gorge.

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the dependents of those killed and Rs 50,000 each to those injured.