Shimla: Four people died and another 32 have been left injured when a morning bus ferrying passengers and students from Solan to Shimla lost control while negotiating traffic on the busy Kalka Shimla highway near Vaknaghat and fell off the road. The accident occurred at about 8.45 a.m., today.
“With the death of one more passenger, in all four passengers have died in the accident,” Madan Chauhan, deputy commissioner Solan told Hill Post
Of the four dead, two are women, with one being an old lady from Sarkaghat, Mandi. A young man of 21, reported to be a student of Bhara University, Vakhnaghat, also died in the accident. One of the victims is a Nepali and the fourth person is also an resident of Solan, police sources said.
Al the injured were shifted to IGMC hospital in Shimla or the district hospital in Solan. One of the injured, who is critically injured, has been shifted to PGI Chandigarh, said Chuahan.
Eyewitnesses said that the accident occurred when the Himachal Roadways bus was negotiating traffic at Dharighat. It was passing by another bus from which passengers were alighting, when an oncoming car came very close.
In order to save a collision, the driver on moving to the left miscalculated and one tire went out of the road alignment that imbalanced the vehicle and it fell off. The bus rolled fell about 30 feet, coming to a halt after hitting a building.
Governor Urmila Singh, chief minister Virbhadra Singh and transport minister GS Bali have expressed grief over the accident.
The transport minister visited the spot. A case has been registered and an inquiry ordered.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
this kind of accidents happen all over the world not only in India unless they realize that they should obey the traffic rules and be away from using alcoholic drinks while on wheel also should avoid speaking on mobile
phone on wheel. If there is any urgency to speak om mobile phone they should stop the vehile and move with mobile. violation of traffic rules and moving on wheel with drinking alcoholic drinks not only kill himself abut also others who accompany . Rigid action should be moved for this kind of violation by the traffic authorities.
This is a matter of grave concern. Shimla-Kalka highways is becoming the most accident prone area with the number of collision happening on day to day basis. I travel a lot on these roads and I have seen most of the vehicle those are not wearing HP number are rash drivers. Most of them are driving at the speed of 100-120 KPH on the highway, with loud music on.
We should tighten the security on this road as nothing is more important then a human life. Laser speed gun should be installed on the highways and people should get challned for over speeding.
This should be taken as a lesson from blunders. The bus was not the ordinary one, in fact it was a superfast bus (reaches Shimla in an hour’s time from Solan). The width of the road is same as it was 20 years back, but still we expect to fly superfast buses where the crowd of running engines are increasing day by day. This happens when the expectations are sky high but the arrangements are zero. I doubt the same result can reflect on the decision to run superfast trains on same fragmented tracks in India.