At least seven people, including five women, one man, and one child, were killed after a bus coming from Haryana crashed into a ditch in the Nainital district, an official said on October 9.
So far 28 people have been rescued and further rescue operations are underway, a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) official said. The bodies of the deceased have been recovered and handed over to the civil police by the SDRF, they said.
According to the officials, the Disaster Control Room in Nainital notified SDRF on October 8 that a bus thought to be carrying 30 to 33 people had crashed into a ditch at Nalni on Kaladhungi Road. On the above information, as per the instructions of Commandant SDRF Manikant Mishra, SDRF rescue teams from Post Rudrapur, Nainital, and Khairna immediately left for the spot for rescue.
After reaching the spot, it was found that there were 33 people in the said bus that came from Hisar, Haryana, to visit Nainital. The bus went out of control at the spot and crashed into a ditch about 200 metres deep, the officials said. The SDRF rescue team reached the spot and conducted a joint rescue operation with the NDRF, local police, and other rescue units.
26 injured people aboard the bus were rescued and taken to the hospital for treatment in the pitch dark and extremely adverse conditions of the night.
