Thirty-six people were killed and 27 injured after an overcrowded, speeding bus swerved off a sharp bend on a highway and plunged 200 metres into a gorge in Uttarakhand on Monday morning.
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The bus, carrying people returning to work after the Diwali break, was headed from Dhumakot in Pauri Garhwal district to Ramnagar in Nainital, roughly 72km away.
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Officials said the 42-seater was packed well beyond capacity and carrying 63 people, including the driver and the conductor. It was owned and operated by Garhwal Motor Owner’s Union Limited, a private travel firm based in Kotdwar of Pauri Garhwal.
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Investigators were yet to pinpoint the cause of the accident, though police officers said overcrowding could have contributed to the crash, the worst in the hill state since July 2018, when 48 people were killed in Pauri Garhwal. Some survivors said the axle of the bus collapsed under the weight of the crowd.
“The axle snapped and the driver lost control. I shut my eyes as the bus rolled down the road. I don’t know how I managed to get out,” said Ayush (17), a college student who was travelling with his family.
Police said 10 of the deceased are women and that 28 people died on the spot.
“The other eight succumbed at a hospital in Ramnagar,” said Almora senior superintendent of police Devendra Pincha.
President Droupadi Murmi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the condolences.
Meanwhile, the state government ordered a magisterial probe and suspended the assistant regional transport officers of Pauri and Almora.
At least 127people have died in bus accidents since June this year in Uttarakhand, where snaking, narrow roads on mountainous terrain often make transit treacherous, especially during the monsoon and winter, when the visibility makes difficult journeys even tougher.
Officials said the bus set off for Ramnagar from Kainath village in Dhumakot around 6.30am. The driver, Dinesh Singh, failed to negotiate a bend near Kupi, Almora around 8.45am. It barrelled through the barricading, rolled 200m off the steep hill and smashed into the bottom of the gorge, metres away from a stream.
Visuals showed the bus crumpled in a heap on its side. Most of the passengers were asleep and jolted awake when the bus began to slide down, said survivors.
“I was asleep and was woken by a sharp jerk. The bus rolled down the road, and I could only hear people screaming. We stopped violently seconds later. Locals came to our rescue. When I finally got out of the mangled bus, there were dead bodies and injured people all around,” said Jagdeep, 38, who works in Delhi.
The perilous terrain complicated rescue operations, said local officials.
State disaster response force commandant Arpan Yaduvanshi said, “Bringing the bodies up was a challenge given how steep the gorge is. The bodies were stuck inside the bus. Four teams were involved in the rescue and relief operation.”
Pauri regional transport officer Dwarika Prasad said the bus had a valid fitness certificate and permit.
Dwarika Prasad, Regional Transport Officer, Pauri, said the bus left Kainath of Dhumakot tehsil at around 6:30 am for Ramnagar in Nainital district.
“These were registered with the transport department in 2009 and were valid till 2025”, he said.
He said the department inspects buses regularly to check overcrowding.
“We conduct regular checks against overcrowding in the buses. It appears the bus was overcrowded as many were travelling back to their work after Diwali.”
Almora district disaster management officer Vineet Pal said four injured people were airlifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rishikesh.
“It is not yet known whether the conductor is alive or dead… We are yet to ascertain the cause of the accident. It will only be known after a probe,” he said.
Harsh Vardhan Rawat, secretary, Garhwal Motor Owner’s Union Limited, said “The ‘Kamani’ (leaf spring suspension) of the bus broke while the bus was negotiating the road bend, and the vehicle tilted on one side and rolled down into the gorge,” he said.
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who met the injured at the Ramnagar hospital, ordered a magisterial probe into the accident and suspended the assistant regional transport officers (ARTOs) of Almora and Pauri Garhwal districts for negligence.
“It is an unfortunate incident…I have also asked the Kumaon commissioner for a magisterial probe and suspension of the officials of the concerned department. Action will be taken against negligence. Our priority is to provide treatment to the injured for their speedy recovery,” he said.
President Murmu, in a post on X, said, “The news of the death of many people, including women and children, in a road accident in Almora is heart-wrenching. I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of those injured.”
Prime Minister Modi, said, “My condolences to those who lost their loved ones in the road accident in Almora, Uttarakhand. I wish for the speedy recovery of all the injured. Under the supervision of the state government, the local administration is making every possible effort for relief and rescue.”
He also announced compensation of ₹2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of each deceased and ₹50,000 for each injured.
Dhami too announced an ex gratia of ₹4 lakh for the kin of each deceased and ₹1 lakh each for those injured.