Tragic accident in Uttarakhand, 36 lives buried alive

42 seater bus fell into 150 feet deep gorge

Amanullah Usmani

A bus full of passengers went out of control and fell into a 150 feet deep gorge in Marchula of Salt development block of Almora district of Uttarakhand. 36 people died in the accident. 34 injured were brought to Ramnagar hospital. Eight of them died here. Six injured were airlifted to Rishikesh, while 11 were referred elsewhere.

Nine people are undergoing treatment in Ramnagar Hospital. It is being told that the accident happened due to the breaking of the spring of the bus. There were about 63 passengers in the 42 seater bus of Garhwal Motor Users Cooperative Society (Users). Half a kilometer before the accident spot, the driver had sensed something untoward ahead. The driver had told the passengers that if anyone wanted to get down then they should do so because the road ahead was bad. No passenger got off the bus. If the passengers had listened to the driver, many lives could have been saved.

There are many discussions going on about the bus accident that happened near Marchula on the Marchula-Gaulikhal-Motor Road on Monday morning. Many passengers who survived the accident were also seen telling the officials of the administration who reached the spot that about half a kilometer before the place where the accident happened, the bus got stuck in the road and started shaking, so the driver stopped the bus and said that if anyone wants to get down, he can, but no passenger got down. After this, the driver drove off with the bus and this accident happened. The passengers say that if they had taken the driver’s words seriously and got down, many lives could have been saved.

The passengers who survived the accident told that as soon as the bus fell into the ditch, they did not get a chance to recover. Passengers started falling on each other. Many passengers also fainted after hitting their heads with stones. By the time people reached the spot, they had died.

Somewhere at the accident spot, a passenger’s phone was lying and somewhere else, packets of cold drink, pakodas, chips of some passengers were scattered. The passengers were travelling happily, but on the way they fell into the lap of death.

The accident in Marchula had also increased the concern of the migrants. Migrants living in various states including Mumbai, Delhi, Kanpur, Madras, Gurugram, Madhya Pradesh, Jaipur started getting updates about this incident. People kept getting information about the incident on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. Migrants called their loved ones and enquired about their well-being.