Uttarakhand: Bodies of 26 Passengers Recovered, Rescue Ops Conclude

New Delhi: Rescuers have recovered 26 bodies of passengers at the bus accident scene in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district.

According to reports, the bus which fell into into a 250 meter deep gorge when it was heading towards Yamunotri was carrying 30 passengers, of which 28 were pilgrims.

The bus was among the 30 pilgrim buses coming from Madhya Pradesh's Panna district and the accident occurred on Sunday at 7 PM.

The team members of the rescue team asserted that the rescue operation was carried on till 2: 30 AM late night and the bus driver was among the 4 that were injured and even the helper lost his life in the accident.

The district disaster management officer of Uttarkashi, Devendra Patwal said that the search operation for the bodies took time as it was dark and moreover it was in a terrain.

''25 bodies were sent to Dehradun to send it ahead to Madhya Pradesh and the body of the bus helper was sent to the local community help centre from where his family would collect his body. The helper was said to be from Almora,'' he added.

The spokesperson of State Disaster Response Force, Lalita Negi said that their teams coordinated with the police and the fire service in rescuing even in the dark and pathetic conditions.

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami has announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the affected passengers and a handful amount of Rs 50,000 for the injured ones.

Also, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chauhan taking to the micro-blogging site, said that the recovered bodies shall be taken by flight around 2 PM.

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