15 Killed as Landslide Hits Bus in India
Officials in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh say at least 15 people were killed when a bus was struck by a landslide, while three others were injured. The incident occurred on a mountainous road in the state.
A relative of the victims said, “My wife, my brother’s wife, my two kids, and his two kids were in the bus”
Mukul Agnihotri, the deputy chief minister of the state, said, “There has been an accident involving a private bus in Bilaspur district.
Fifteen people have lost their lives. We have recovered 18 people, including three who have been sent to a hospital. We are yet to ascertain how many passengers were there in the bus.”
He added that the landslide occurred in the hilly Kullu region following heavy rainfall, causing a large mass of mud and rocks to fall onto the road and hit the passenger bus. Rescue teams and local police immediately arrived at the scene, and search operations for missing persons are ongoing.
Karam Singh, deputy commander of the National Disaster Response Force, said, “From what we can see from the situation, the landslide was triggered by continuous rainfall over the past two days, this is the main cause. Rescue operations are still under way at the accident site.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences to the victims’ families and ordered compensation of two lakh rupees (about 2,250 USD) from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for each bereaved family and 50,000 rupees for the injured.
