Himachal Pradesh bus accident: 9 bodies recovered, 20 still missing

Nine dead bodies have been recovered after a tourist bus, with 51-56 passengers on board, fell into a gorge in River Parvati in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday.

According to the Kullu Police Control Room, 23 people have been rescued so far while at least 20 persons are still missing. The Kullu PCR informed dna, that the NDRF team have been asked to help. 

Himachal Pradesh recently witnessed heavy rainfalls that washed away several roads in Kullu following the flash floods and the local administration had already announced the area as accident prone.

Injured passengers who were under treatment at the local hospital in Kullu told a local news website that the bus driver tried to avoid a crash with a two-wheeler in Sarsari village and hit a rock, after which the driver lost control and the bus fell 200 feet from the cliff into the Parvati river.  

Among the 23 rescued, there were three kids (aged 3, 5 and 9 years) and 4 women. Most passengers were from Mansa and Barnala town of Punjab who were going to the famous Sikh shrine in Manikaran.