1 dead, 18 injured as private bus skids into deep gorge in Mandi
In a tragic road accident today morning, a private bus veered off the Dhalwan-Patrighat-Kalakhar link road and plunged approximately 200 metres into a gorge, leaving one person dead and 18 others injured. The incident occurred near Kalakhar in the Patrighat region under Sarkaghat sub-division of Mandi district around 8 am.
The ill-fated bus was reportedly en route from Kutheda to Mandi with 19 passengers on board. The deceased has been identified as 55-year-old Rajgir Chand, son of Brahm Lal, a resident of Kot village in Ghumarwin tehsil, Bilaspur district. He was reportedly crushed under the bus and died on the spot. His body has been sent for post-mortem at the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Sarkaghat.
As the news of the accident spread, chaos and panic gripped the area. Despite heavy rainfall, local residents exhibited exemplary humanity by rushing to the accident site and assisting in the rescue operation. They worked alongside police personnel to help evacuate the injured from the steep gorge, facing challenging weather conditions and dangerous terrain.
Emergency services were promptly alerted. DSP Sarkaghat Sanjeev Gautam and Hatli SHO Brij Lal Sharma arrived at the scene with their teams and immediately launched a coordinated rescue operation. Several injured passengers were pulled out from the wreckage and transported via private vehicles and 108 Emergency ambulances to the CHC Rewalsar and later referred to the Medical College Nerchowk for advanced treatment.
Among the most severely affected were bus driver Chiranjee Lal (45) and another passenger who were trapped in the mutilated vehicle. A crane had to be called to extract them safely.
Sarkaghat MLA Dilip Thakur visited the site to oversee relief efforts and later met the injured at Nerchowk Medical College.
The injured include: Surender Singh of Barot, Jagdish Chand (59), Phulan Devi (50) and Chranjee Lal (45) driver of Khudla, Narbada Devi (45) and Usha Devi (25) of Jwali, Sapna (37), Tushar (20), Mohni Devi (47), and Mridul (23) of Dhaned, Vijay (35) of Masyani, Mal Ram (64) and Kanta Devi (60) of Ban Mangoh, Revti Devi (48) of Dhalwan, Tej Singh (55) of Guhamu, Rajesh Kumar (32) of Naharla, Dheeraj (20) of Patrighat and Rita Devi (24) of Bhambla village in Mandi.
Mandi SP Sakshi Verma stated that an investigation into the cause of the accident is currently underway. Initial reports suggest the driver may have lost control due to slippery roads caused by continuous rainfall. The authorities are also looking into the mechanical condition of the vehicle and the possibility of human error.
ADM Mandi Dr Madan Kumar stated that Rs 80,000 was disbursed as an immediate relief to the affected families, while a sum of Rs 25,000 was given to the family of deceased. An amount of Rs 5,000 was given to each victim suffering major injuries and Rs 2,000 to each victim suffering minor injuries.
Himachal Tribune