30, including 27 kids, killed as school bus plunges into gorge in HP

TIL Desk/National/Shimla/ Twenty seven children were among 30 killed when a school bus ferrying them back home plunged into a deep gorge near village Gurchal on the Nurpur-Chamba highway, about 100 km from the district headquarters at Dharamsala.

The children were students of Ram Singh Pathania Memorial School, police said. Thirty persons, including 27 children, have lost their life, Himachal Pradesh Transport Minister Govind Singh Thakur said.

The driver, 67-year-old Madan Lal, and two women teachers also died in the accident which occurred when the bus was on its way back from school, Kangra SP Santosh Patial said.

Local Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, Rakesh Pathania, who was on the spot, said 27 bodies were recovered while two more had been spotted. At least 13 seriously injured persons were rushed to a hospital in Pathankot where one of them succumbed to injuries, an official said. The condition of other injured persons was also critical, he said.

The bus was carrying 40-45 people and most of those killed were students of elementary classes, aged below ten. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur announced an immediate relief of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased.