Kenya bus crash kills at least 30

At least 30 people were confirmed killed and several others injured when a bus collided with a truck on a road in central Kenya, the country's President said.

The crash happened early Sunday as the Nairobi-bound bus was traveling along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway.

In a statement, President Uhuru Kenyatta expressed his condolences to the families and friends of passengers involved in the road accident at Migaa near Molo, a town in Nakuru County north of Nairobi.

"The President said it was unfortunate that many Kenyans have continued to lose their lives in road accidents, which can be avoided," the statement read.


Twenty-eight bodies had so far been recovered from the bus wreckage as well as the body of the truck driver, according to the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).

Rescue operations continued at the scene of the accident, with injured passengers transported to Molo Sub-County Hospital and Nakuru Level Five Hospital for treatment, KBC reported.

President Kenyatta wished the injured a quick recovery and called upon drivers to be vigilant on the roads over the holiday period.

"Let us all be responsible this festive season, and more so, those of us who are driving," Kenyatta said, according to the statement.

Monday 1 January 2018

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/31/africa/kenya-bus-collision-intl/index.html

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32 killed as bus falls into river in western India

At least 32 people were killed on Saturday after a passenger bus veered off a bridge and plunged into a river in the western Indian state of Rajasthan, police said.

Another 10 passengers were injured in the crash in the Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan state, 375 kilometers (235 miles) south of New Delhi, said government official K.L. Katara.

The speeding bus was trying to overtake another vehicle when it rammed through the bridge railing, said B.L. Soni, a top police officer.

Police are investigating what caused the driver to lose control of the bus. It wasn't clear if the driver survived, or how many people were aboard the bus.

Rescuers have so far recovered 32 bodies from the river.

The bus was on its way to Lalsot, a town in Rajasthan, after picking up passengers from the Sawai Madhopur railroad station when it crashed around 6 a.m., said police officer Narain Singh.

Driver fatigue, negligence, poor quality roads and vehicle maintenance are the usual causes of such accidents in India. Police figures show India has the world's highest road accident death toll, with more than 110,000 people dying each year in crashes.

Saturday 23 December 2017

http://www.fireengineering.com/ap-news/2017/12/22/20-killed-as-bus-falls-into-river-in-western-india.html

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20 killed as floods hit van carrying wedding party in Pakistan

At least 20 people, including children and women, were killed on Saturday when flash floods swept away a van carrying a marriage party in northwest Pakistan.

The incident took place when the ill-fated van was caught in flooding in Tabai area while travelling from Bara to Bazaar Zakha Khel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

According to an official, eight women, two children and 10 men were killed in the tragic incident.

Rescue teams have retrieved the bodies and shifted them to a hospital in Landi Kotal, the official said.

Flash floods triggered by torrential rains have badly affected Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in recent years.

According to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), about 55 people have been killed and 35 others injured due to heavy rains in different parts of the country.

Annual spring and monsoon rains claim many lives each year in Pakistan, especially in rural areas where poorly built homes are susceptible to collapse.

Over 120 people were killed in rains and landslides killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan region in April.

Over 80 people were killed and almost 300,000 affected due to heavy rains last summer in Pakistan.

Nearly 2,000 people were killed and millions others badly affected in the worst flooding in 2010 that covered almost a fifth of the country’s total land mass.

Saturday 30 July 2016

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/20-killed-as-floods-hit-van-carrying-wedding-party-in-pakistan/article8921621.ece

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Sixteen people killed in Mexican bus accident

A bus carrying amateur football players and fans plunged into a river after careening off a bridge in eastern Mexico, leaving at least 16 people dead, authorities said.

Another 10 people were injured in the crash in the municipality of Atoyac in the eastern state of Veracruz.

A preliminary investigation found that the bus was speeding, causing the driver to "lose control" of the vehicle over a speed bump and break through a safety barrier, the state government said in a statement.

The bus "fell into the bottom of the Atoyac river," the statement said, adding that "16 bodies and 10 injured people were recovered".

Local civil protection officials reported an earlier toll of eight dead and 30 injured.

The bus was taking the players to an amateur football game and children were among the passengers.

Sunday 10 January 2015

http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0110/759063-mexico-bus-crash/

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14 dead in two deadly migrant bus crashes in Turkey

Fourteen people, most of them Syrian refugees, were killed and dozens more injured in two deadly bus accidents in Turkey in the past 24 hours, reports said Saturday.

Early on Saturday, a bus carrying migrants hoping to catch a boat to the Greek island of Lesbos overturned and rolled into a gorge in the western Balikesir province, killing seven Syrians and the driver, state-run Anatolia news agency said.

Forty-two others were injured, it said.

In a separate incident a day earlier, a bus carrying migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Myanmar slammed into a car in the northwestern Canakkale province, killing six Syrians and injuring 30 others, the private Dogan news agency said.

They were also being driven to a beach from where they would have tried to cross to Lesbos, it said.

Turkey, which is home to some 2.2 million refugees from Syria's civil war, has become a hub for migrants seeking to reach Europe, many of whom pay people smugglers thousands of dollars for the risky crossing.

This week, the bodies of 36 migrants, including several children, were found washed up along the Turkish coast after their boats sank while crossing the Aegean Sea to EU member Greece.

The European Union has pledged to give Ankara three billion euros ($3.2 billion) as well as political concessions in return for its cooperation in tackling Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War II.

But earlier this week, the EU said it was far from satisfied with Turkey's cooperation in stemming the flow of migrants trying to reach the bloc.

Saturday 09 January 2015

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/550594/news/world/14-dead-in-two-deadly-migrant-bus-crashes-in-turkey-report

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Overcrowded bus veers off mountain road in Nepal, killing 30

A bus packed with passengers riding both inside and on its roof veered off a mountain road in northwest Nepal on Tuesday, killing 30 people and injuring 35 others, officials said.

Government administrator Shiv Ram Gelal said the bus drove off the road near Ramche village and rolled about 150 metres down a slope.

Gelal said the bus was overcrowded because of a severe fuel shortage in the country that has limited transportation.

Police, soldiers and local villagers helped recover injured people and bodies from the wreckage.

Rescuers struggled to recover bodies and help the injured to safety after the bus fell 200 metres (656 feet) off the mountainous road in Rasuwa district, home to the popular Langtang trekking route.

“Of the 30 dead, 29 were recovered from the accident site and one died while undergoing treatment,” district chief Shiva Ram Gelal said, adding that one of those killed was an infant.

“We have sent 35 other people who were wounded to nearby hospitals and we are continuing to search the area,” Gelal said.

Gelal told AFP the cause of the accident was not clear yet. But injured passengers said the vehicle was overcrowded, with people travelling on the roof, he added.

Police were investigating the accident, which occurred about 80 kilometres (50 miles) northwest of the capital, Kathmandu.

Accidents in Nepal are generally caused by poorly maintained roads and vehicles.

The severe fuel shortage has forced people to travel on the roofs of buses, which generally is not allowed for safety reasons. It has become common to see bus roofs packed with people and police rarely stop them.

Ethnic protesters have blocked a key border point with India since September, which has prevented the import of fuel and other supplies.

Nepal normally gets all of its fuel from India.

Tuesday 3 November 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/overcrowded-bus-veers-off-mountain-road-in-nepal-killing-30-1.3301149

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More bodies recovered from Himachal's Larji Dam

Two more bodies were recovered from Pandoh Dam and Larji Dam today bringing the total number of bodies fished out in the past three days to 17, of which 16 were identified as the passengers of July 23 Sarsari bus tragedy in Himachal Pradesh.

With the identification of 16 bodies, 39 bodies have so far been recovered, while seven bodies are still missing, police said.

Eight bodies were recovered during de-silting on Saturday, while seven bodies were recovered yesterday.

The sixteen bodies, which have been identified, are of the victims of Sarsari bus accident on Kullu-Manali Road, in which 23 persons were killed and another 23 had gone missing, police said.

Kullu Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kanwar said that the bodies fished out from the dams were identified.

A private bus carrying 69 pilgrims from Mansa, Bhatinda and Talwandi Sabo areas of Punjab had plunged into Parbati River near Sarsari on the Kullu-Manikaran road in Kullu district on July 23 and 23 persons were killed, while another 23 had gone missing.

15 were admitted to hospital and the remaining passengers escaped with minor injuries.

Wednesday 7 October 2015

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/shimla/More-bodies-recovered-from-Himachals-Larji-Dam/articleshow/49254244.cms

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7 more bodies recovered from Pandoh Dam in Mandi, two months after bus disaster

Seven more bodies were recovered today from the Pandoh Dam in Mandi district. Eight bodies were recovered yesterday from the Larji Dam in Kullu district during a flushing out operation.

However, six of the eight bodies have been identified by relatives of pilgrims of the Manikaran bus mishap. A private bus carrying 69 pilgrims from Punjab had plunged into the Parbati river near Sarari on the Bhuntar-Manikaran road in Kullu district on July 23.

The police said seven bodies were found floating in the Pandoh Dam. They said the bodies might have reached the dam after a desilting operation was carried out in the Larji Dam yesterday.

Kullu SDM Rohit Rathore said seven more bodies were recovered from the Pandoh Dam. He said relatives of the victims had already been informed and many had arrived to identify the bodies. The SDM said the bodies had been brought to regional hospital, Kullu, as these could be of the remaining 17 missing pilgrims. He said an ex gratia of Rs 25,000 had been given to the family members of the identified victims as immediate relief.

Gill said relatives of other missing pilgrims had been informed while the bodies had been handed over to their relatives by the hospital authorities after the post-mortem examination.

However, nine more bodies recovered in the past two days remained unidentified.

An intensive rescue operation was carried out by over nearly 600 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force, Shastra Seema Bal, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Home Guards and the police to trace the missing persons.

Tuesday 6 October 2015

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/7-more-bodies-recovered-from-pandoh-dam-in-mandi/142096.html

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Himachal Pradesh: 18 dead, 12 injured as bus falls into gorge at Nathpa

Eighteen people were killed and twelve others injured on Tuesday when a bus fell 200 metres deep into a gorge at Nathpa on Hindustan Tibet National highway, 185km from Shimla.

Fifteen persons died on the spot while three succumbed to their injuries on way to hospital and twelve others were injured, SP, Kinnaur, Rahul Nath said.

The condition of four injured persons was stated to be serious and they have been rushed to Civil Hospital Rampur.

The private bus was on its way to Rampur from Rekong Peo when the tragedy struck. The deceased included two policemen while the identity of the others was being identified.

Since most of the people travelling in the bus were locals, a large number of people rushed to the spot and wailing relatives of the passengers looked for their kin.

After hurtling into the gorge, the bus stopped on the bank of Sutlej, a few meters from the river and some of the injured persons jumped out of the bus.

The bus broke into pieces and rescuers struggled to extricate the bodies trapped in the vehicle

Rescue teams, assisted by local people, had a tough time in bringing the injured to nearest roadhead.

The injured persons have been admitted to hospital at Bhawa Nagar while two seriously injured persons were rushed to civil hospital at Rampur.

The cause of the accident could not be ascertained so far but eye-witnesses said it took place as the driver tried to overtake another bus.

Thursday 03 September 2015

http://www.firstpost.com/india/himachal-pradesh-18-dead-12-injured-as-bus-falls-into-gorge-at-nathpa-2416938.html

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29 killed in South Africa bus crash

A bus drove off a cliff, killing 35 people on board in Eastern Cape province on Saturday, authorities said.

Only nine of the 44 passengers survived the horror crash, Xinhua reported citing the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC).

Eight sustained moderate injuries and one was seriously hurt, the RTMC said.

But according to Eastern Cape provincial health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo, six were in a critical condition.

Of those killed, four were children, said RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane.

The crash took place between Butterworth and Willovale in the province, he said.

It was believed that the victims were all from the same village in Willowvale near Dutywa, Eastern Cape province.

Initial reports put the number of deaths at 25, but after all of the passengers trapped inside the bus had been removed, the death toll rose to 35, Zwane said.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known.

“We cannot speculate at this moment as to the cause of the accident but our investigators will rely on witnesses statements to try and establish what happened,” Butterworth police spokesman Captain Jackson Manatha said.

Monday 31 August 2014

http://gulfnews.com/news/africa/south-africa/35-killed-in-south-africa-bus-accident-1.1575360

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Zimbabwe: SA Accident Victims to Be DNA Tested

The identification process of nine Zimbabweans who died in an accident last Thursday is expected to take time as most of the victims were burnt beyond recognition and would need to undergo DNA tests, South African police have said. The nine died when a commuter omnibus they were travelling in rammed into a stationary Zambian haulage truck near Naboomspruit along the N1 Highway in Limpopo Province, South Africa.

Limpopo police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Ronel Otto, said the identification process was ongoing at Naboomspruit government mortuary.

"The identification process is underway. DNA tests are also being done to confirm the identity because some of the bodies were burnt beyond recognition," she said.

Col Otto said the other victim was still hospitalised and in a stable condition at Naboomspruit Hospital.

The DNA profiling is expected to take more than 14 days.

She said they were working with the Zimbabwean Consulate staff in the identification process.

Col Otto said the truck driver and his passenger were not injured adding that the driver will appear at Naboomspruit Magistrate Court charged with culpable homicide today.

The accident comes shortly after seven other Zimbabweans were killed when a commuter omnibus they were travelling in collided with a haulage truck two kilometres from Beitbridge Border Post along the N1 Highway.

The N1 Highway is one of the busiest roads in South Africa as it links that country to the rest of Africa and it is a route that handles a lot of cargo movement.

The road has also become a death trap for Zimbabweans and citizens of countries north of the Limpopo and Zambezi Rivers

Tuesday 18 August 2015

http://allafrica.com/stories/201508170947.html

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South Africa taxi collides with train near Ballito

A minibus taxi has collided with a train near Ballito in South Africa, killing at least 14 people, according to KwaZulu-Natal emergency services.

The BBC's Milton Nkosi says it is believed the taxi was carrying 20 passengers when it went over a bridge and hit a train as it plunged onto a railway line below.

South Africa has an exceptionally high accident rate on its roads.

At least 10,000 people die on the roads a year, mostly due to reckless driving.

No-one on the train was injured, according to ENCA news.

Tuesday 18 August 215

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33967398

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DNA of Kullu bus accident victims to be preserved

With the bodies of the July 23 Kullu bus accident victims now being retrieved from the Parvati river too decayed to be recognised, the Kullu district administration in Himachal Pradesh will preserve the DNA from these to avoid identification issues later.

The DNA samples from three bodies fished on Tuesday have been collected. The bodies of a woman and two men extracted on Wednesday could not be identified. “Knowing what would be the condition of the bodies that have remained under water for so long, we decided three-four days ago to preserve the DNA from the bodies to be retrieved from now,” said Kullu subdivisional magistrate (SDM) Rohit Rathore.

“The families that claimed the bodies retrieved on Tuesday had identified the victims from their clothes and other belongings; but we have kept the DNA samples as well to avoid controversy later as we find more victims. The DNA samples will be sent to the forensic laboratory at Junga in Shimla district,” said the SDM.

Identification issues had cropped up in June last year when 24 students from Hyderabad were swept away in the Beas river near Thalot in Mandi district. On July 23, a private bus carrying pilgrims from Bathinda, Barnala and Mansa districts of Punjab had fallen into a swollen Parvati river on the Bhuntar-Manikaran road. So far, 20 bodies have been retrieved, while 26 victims are still missing. In the accident, 23 passengers were injured.

Kullu Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kanwar said still search is going on to recover bodies from river. A anonymous body recovered from river which is not in passengers list.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and Himachal Pradesh Police continue to search for bodies and possible survivors.

Thursday 13 August 2015

http://www.hindustantimes.com/bathinda/dna-of-kullu-bus-mishap-victims-to-be-preserved/article1-1379587.aspx

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Kullu bus accident: Three more bodies recovered

Three bodies, including those of a child and a woman, were today recovered from separate places in Mandi district. One of the bodies has been identified, while the other two are believed to be of Punjab pilgrims who went missing after their Manikaran-bound bus plunged into the Parbati river at Sarsari on the Bhuntar-Manikarn road in Kullu district on July 23.

Eight persons were killed on the spot while bodies of seven others were later recovered from the Beas by search teams pressed into service by the district administration. However, 31 persons who went missing were feared to be washed away. At least 23 persons were injured in the mishap. The ill-fated private bus was reportedly carrying 69 pilgrims from Mansa, Bhatinda and Barnala districts of Punjab.

The search teams today recovered two bodies, including a child, from the Beas near Pandoh dam, about 50 km downstream from the accident site. The body of a female, reportedly of a pilgrim from the bus mishap, was retrieved further downstream from the Beas near Dharampur, 80 km from Mandi district headquarters.

The body of the child has been identified by his relatives at Kullu hospital. The other two bodies have not yet been identified.

Rajinder Singh Gill, a member of the Kullu Kar Seva, said the relatives camping here from Pakhokalan village of Barnala district had identified the body to be of one missing pilgrim Nacchater Singh, son of Dara Singh. However, his son had been called to confirm the same. br>
Gill said photos of another body recovered near Dharampur bore resemblance to a missing pilgrim Amarjeet Kaur, wife of Gurjeet Singh of Jagaramtirth village of Bhatinda district.br>
A police official at the Dharampur police station said the body of a woman of around 30 years of age had been recovered from the Beas and it had been sent to Sarkaghat hospital for the post-mortem examination.br>
Nearly 600 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Home Guards, police and a 12-member team of the Indian Navy were pressed into search and rescue operation. However, due to persistent rain in the valley, rivers and rivulets remained flooded, hampering the search operations. The floodgates of the Larji and Pandoh dams were also opened after increase in water level due to which the bodies might have washed away further downstream. br>
So far the death toll in the mishap had risen to 16. Meanwhile, the relatives of the missing persons were still camping at Kullu in a hope to trace the mortal remains of their loved ones to perform the last rites. Kullu Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kanwar said the search for missing persons would continue till September end with nearly 160 personnel of the NDRF, the SSB, the ITBP, Home Guards and state police and re-enforcements could be sighted later on if required.br>
Tuesday 11 August 2015br>
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/manikaran-mishap-three-bodies-recovered/118192.html

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Manikaran mishap: One more body recovered, yet to be identified

A male body was today spotted by villagers near Bajaura in Kullu district. Search teams retrieved the body from the Beas river and sent it to the government hospital.

A 52-seater bus with 69 pilgrims on board from Mansa, Barnala and Bhatinda districts of Punjab plunged into the swollen Parbati river near Sarsari village on the Bhuntar-Manikaran road in Kullu district on July 23. Eight persons died on the spot, while bodies of four pilgrims were later recovered from the river and the Larji Dam. However, 34 pilgrims are still missing. At least 23 persons were injured in the mishap.

Rajinder Singh Gill, member of the Kullu Kar Seva, said the relatives of the missing pilgrims camping here could not identify the body. However, photos bear resemblance to one Balwant Singh, son of Lal Singh of Jagaramtirath village in Talwandi tehsil of Punjab. He said relatives of the missing had been called for identification of the victim.

Meanwhile, Talwinder Singh, tehsildar, Barnala, consoled the relatives of Komalpreet Kaur, whose body was today sent to her native place. He assured them all support from the Punjab government.

Kullu Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kanwar said the administration would rework the strategy tomorrow as exhaustive search and survey of the entire stretch from Sarsari up to Larji Dam undertaken at the potential spots to find the missing persons by the Navy had not yielded much result.

He said due to strong river water current, the equipment of the Navy could not trace the wreckage. Cold waters prevented divers to stay under the water for longer duration.

He said the search for the missing persons from the accident spot up to the Largi Dam along the Parbati and the Beas rivers would continue till the last week of September.

A 12-member Indian Navy team headed by Commander Tilak Thakur had yesterday started search operation with Sonar imaging system, but the operation was hampered due to muddy and turbulent water of the river.

Nearly 160 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Shastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Home Guards and state police have been pressed into the search operation.

Tuesday 4 August 2015

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/manikaran-mishap-one-more-body-recovered-yet-to-be-identified/115088.html

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Now, hope on sonar imagery system as 12-member crew of Navy reaches tonight at Kullu to start search operation

The Kullu administration is pinning hope on the sonar imagery system reaching Manikaran tonight with the 12-member crew of the Navy after the massive search operations to locate the remaining 35 bodies of Manikaran bus accident victims made little headway.

The sonar system and crew from Visakhapatnam is on the way and will reach Kullu tonight and start the search operations for remaining bodies from tomorrow, Special Secretary (Disaster Management) DD Sharma said, adding that eight divers of the Navy were also a part of the 12-member team.

As per the final list, there were 69 passengers in the overloaded 52-seater bus that plunged into the Parbati river on July 22 on the Bhuntar-Manikaran road. Eleven bodies had been recovered, 23 persons were injured in the accident while the search for 35 missing persons was still on, said Deputy Commissioner Kullu, Rakesh Kanwar.

More than 600 personnel from the police, SSB, Indo-Tibet Border Police, National Disaster Response Force, civil defence, Home Guards and divers of the BBMB had been pressed into rescue operations. A large number of relatives and friends of the missing persons from Mansa, Barnala and Bathinda are camping near the accident spot, waiting for a miracle to happen.



The chances of survival of the missing persons, feared to have been washed away in strong currents, are almost remote. But they are just praying for the bodies so that last rights of the deceased could be performed. “We are religious people and that was the reason that my brother went to the pilgrimage to Manikaran but he is still missing and we are desperate to get his body to perform the last rights”, said Manjit.

Saturday 1 August 2015

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/now-hope-on-sonar-imagery-system/113787.html

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34 still missing in Kullu bus accident

Eight days after the tragic accident in which a bus with 69 people on board plunged into the Parvati River near Sarsari village, search and rescue teams have been unable to locate 34 passengers with only 12 bodies fished out till now. Of these one victim remains unidentified.

Relatives of those still missing have become desperate with many of them wandering near the accident site in hopes, which are swiftly evaporating, of finding their loved ones.

Gurmail Singh, a resident of Mansa district in Punjab, whose 22-year-old son Preet Singh was on the ill fated bus, said the tragedy had left him and his family members shattered. "I'm now a completely broken man and my wife continuously asks me about whether our son has been found," he told this reporter.

After the tragedy Gurmail and his family members arrived at the accident site along with his relatives and have been milling around in the scorching heat every day for any sign of Preet but without success, leaving them completely depressed. Like him there are about other 40 relatives of the missing bus passengers camping in Kullu, hoping against hope the search teams will be able to locate them.

The district administration has deployed 160 diving experts and others including personnel of the National Disaster Response Force, Sashastra Seema Bal (armed border force), Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the police in the search operation. The state government has now sought the assistance of the Indian navy for employing sonar, a technique that uses sound propagation, in the search efforts.

Meanwhile, families of the bus passengers whose bodies have been retrieved have urged the Punjab government to give a compensation of `10 lakh to each of them.

Friday 31 July 2015

http://www.hindustantimes.com/himachalpradesh/hopes-fading-for-35-still-missing-in-bus-mishap/article1-1374805.aspx

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Search on for 28 missing in Kullu

Search operations continued on the sixth day on Tuesday for the 28 passengers from Punjab who got drowned when their bus fell into the swollen Parvati river in Himachal Pradesh.

Eleven bodies have been taken out and 23 people rescued, police said. The passengers were travelling to a Sikh shrine in Manikaran.

Kullu Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kanwar told IANS over the telephone that search operations were on to locate the bodies.

Though one more body was recovered from the river, it was not that of the missing passengers, he said.

The official said the bus was still untraceable, and the divers could not successfully carry out the operation as the river was still in spate.

"The flow in the river today (Tuesday) came down marginally owing to less rain in the catchment area. We are hopeful that the water level will decrease in one or two days," he added.

Rescuers said there were chances that the remaining bodies, which were in the process of getting bloated, would start surfacing in the water.

In the first two days, nine bodies were recovered.

Over 150 rescue workers are involved in the search operation, focusing on the 44 km downstream stretch of the river from the accident spot to Pandoh dam.

Most bodies, officials said, were either trapped under the rocks or buried in the riverbed silt.

Meanwhile, parents and family members of many of the missing passengers met Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh here on Tuesday and sought cooperation from the government to locate the bodies.

The chief minister assured the families all possible help, including providing ex-gratia to the accident victims.

Tuesday 28 July 2015

http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20150728/2650690.html

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Two days after Kullu bus accident, body of woman pilgrim found in Larji dam

Two days after a private bus from Punjab fell into the Parbati river in Kullu, the body of a woman pilgrim travelling in it was recovered from Larji dam, 40 km downstream from here. Thirty-five pilgrims and the bus, PB-19 M-3085, are still missing.

A daylong frantic search on Friday yielded little as only one body was recovered and the bus wreckage couldn’t be found.

Kullu deputy commissioner Rakesh Kanwar told Hindustan Times on Saturday that rescue teams had been deployed at five locations to trace the missing victims, all of them pilgrims from Barnala, Bathinda, Anandpur Sahib and Mansa districts of Punjab.

Nine bodies were retrieved till Friday, while one was recovered on Saturday morning from Larji dam, where the Mandi district administration has set up a control room to fish out bodies of the victims washed away after the bus fell into the river.

“The National Disaster Response Force team has been deployed at the accident site near Sarsari village on the Bhunter-Manikaran road. Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel are conducting a search at Jiya, where the Beas and its tributary Parbati meet 15 km downstream from the accident site. Seema Suraksha Bal personnel are deployed at Jhiri, Aut and Larji on the 40-km stretch,” Kanwar said.

Over 600 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Sashastra Seema Bal, Bhakra Beas Management Board, police and the home guard have been engaged in the search operation from the accident spot to Bhuntar along the banks of the Beas up to Larji and Pandoh Dam.

The dam gates have been shut to prevent the bodies flowing downstream. A general alert has been sounded in the twin districts, asking people to keep immediately inform the administration in case any body is spotted on river banks.

At least 23 persons, including the driver and the conductor, were rescued and admitted to a hospital in Kullu on Thursday. Four seriously injured persons had been referred to PGI, Chandigarh, said Kullu Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kanwar, adding the efforts were on to locate the bus wreckage as the possibility of the bodies trapped inside it were high. The 52-seater private bus was packed to capacity with 67 passengers.

“All 19 injured victims have been discharged from the regional hospital in Kullu. The bodies of nine victims have also been handed over to their families,” the deputy commissioner said.

The bus met with the accident in Sarsari village on the Bhuntar-Manikaran road, some eight km from Bhuntar.

Kullu’s Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kanwar told IANS that a massive search operation was continuing for the remaining victims.

He said the focus of the search operation was to locate bodies trapped under boulders on the 10-15 km-long downstream stretch of the river from the accident spot.

Most of the bodies, officials said, were either trapped under rocks or buried in the riverbed silt.

A team of the National Disaster Response Force also reached the spot to locate the missing people.

“Our rescue workers are basically facing problem of poor visibility. The river bed is full of mud and silt. There are also big boulders and rocks,” an official said.

Meanwhile, family members of the missing people have reached the accident site.

Some of the relatives were apprehensive that the bodies might wash away 20-30 km further as the river stretch is narrow downwards and the current is strong.

This is the second major accident involving tourists in Himachal Pradesh in a little over a year.

Twenty four students of a Hyderabad-based institute and a tour operator were washed away in the Beas river in Mandi district on June 8 last year when water was released into the river without warning from a nearby hydropower project.

It took almost a month to retrieve all the bodies from the river.

Saturday 25 July 2015

http://www.hindustantimes.com/himachalpradesh/two-days-after-kullu-bus-accident-body-of-woman-pilgrim-found-in-larji-dam/article1-1372991.aspx

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/kullu-bus-accident-fate-of-35-pilgrims-remains-uncertain/111156.html

http://www.canindia.com/2015/07/kullu-accident-two-more-bodies-found-toll-nine/

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Death toll from China bus crash rises to 11

The death toll from a bus accident in China rose to 11 as the driver of the vehicle was pronounced dead Thursday. He had been in a coma since the bus carrying 26 Korean government workers on a training program veered off a bridge in northeastern China earlier this week.

An official at the Korean Consulate in Shenyang said 10 out of 16 injured passengers were moved to a bigger hospital in Changchun this morning. The six others, who suffered relatively minor injuries, will be moved to Changchun shortly.

The injured had been treated in a hospital in Jian.

Chung Jae-geun, vice minister of government administration and home affairs whose ministry organized the trip, was dispatched to the scene of the accident and visited the injured in hospital.

The bodies of the 10 dead Korean passengers have been taken to a local mortuary, and 37 family members of the victims traveled to China.

Chinese media reported that authorities are still investigating the cause of the accident. CCTV footage shows the bus speeding before it veered off the bridge.

An official at the Korean Embassy in Beijing said, "We can't make a rash determination of the the cause of the crash due to compensation issues." The official added that it will take some time to get to the bottom of things since the driver is dead.

Some have pointed to safety issues with the bridge, which was built 30 years ago. One resident in the area said no maintenance work has ever been carried out.

Another cause of the many fatalities appears to have been a failure to fasten seat belts. Some passengers aboard other buses said the seat belts did not work.

The South Korean government sent an emergency team to China on Thursday to assist coping with the aftermath of a deadly bus accident in China's northeastern Jilin province, which killed 10 South Korean tourists and a Chinese driver. Four forensic experts from Korea also traveled to the scene of the accident to investigate.

The team of 11 officials will offer convenience to the families of the victims and help them return to South Korea. It will also discuss about the funeral and compensation issues with them, according to officials of South Korea's Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs.

A bus, carrying 28 passengers including 26 South Koreans, fell off a bridge into the river in Ji'an city on Wednesday when it was traveling to the border city of Dandong.

The victims were among 143 local government workers and five training staff who were touring remnants of the Koryo Kingdom in Jian aboard six buses and heading toward the town of Dandong on the border with North Korea.

The Chinese embassy in South Korea told Xinhua that it has assisted some family members of local South Korean government employees involved in the accident to get the emergency visa to China. Most of them will directly receive visa-on-arrival when landing China.

Some family members began arriving at a funeral hall in Ji'an, according to South Korea's Yohap news agency.

Friday 3 July 2015

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2015/07/03/2015070301435.html

http://en.apdnews.com/news/54c5a4408dda4575918a145e28816625.html

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