Click to play videoNew Delhi: About 40 people including five children died after a private luxury bus carrying nearly 70 pilgrims fell into a deep gorge near Nashik on Sunday night. About 22 people are reported critically injured in the mishap.
Six ambulances were rushed to the spot and the injured were admitted to the Nashik Civil Hospital. Police and other district officials reached the spot shortly after the mishap.
According to sources, the bus owned by Lucky Travels was on its way back to Mumbai after darshan at Saptashring Garh when the bus driver lost control over the vehicle. The bus hit a roadside railing, fell down the 450-metre-deep gorge and broke into two.
"Our buses were travelling together. There was a difference of only five minutes between the two buses. Last night we heard that a bus carrying tourists from Mumbai had gone down a gorge. Later, we found it was the other bus. We got off and managed to get some of injured to the hospital," recounts an eyewitness.
The driver of the bus admits that the bus was overloaded, but says he could have done little to prevent the accident.
"The accident happened because the brakes failed," the driver said. "The bus was overloaded, but the passengers wouldn't listen."
The group from Gurudev Sai Mandal was on a pilgrimage and had come from Gandhinagar, Worli. They had been to Shirdi, Trambakeshwar, Nashik and Vani. The incident took place when they were returning to Mumbai. They were travelling in two buses, one of them carrying 70 passengers and the other 27.
"These people go to Shirdi for Darshan every year. A trust called Sai Baba Trust arranges the travel of all these people. The pilgrims were returning home when at the last turning point they met with the accident," says Collector Nashik S Chokkalingum.
24 people were killed in a similar accident at exactly the same place on the same date two years ago.
Nashik helpline numbers: 0253-2576106, 0253-2572038
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