17 die as Garhwa-Raipur bus falls into gorge

Ranchi/Garhwa: Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Thursday announced ex-gratia relief of Rs 1 lakh each to the family members of those killed in bus accident in neighbouring Chhatisgarh. He also said the injured would get Rs 25,000. Das spoke to his Chhatisgarh counterpart Raman Singh and expressed confidence that adequate medical care would be provided to the injured.
A bus from Garhwa in Jharkhand, travellling to Raipur in Chhatisgarh, met with an accident at Balrampur under Ramujganj district late on Wednesday night. The bus, carrying more than 60 passengers, fell into a gorge after driver lost control over the vehicle in a bid to save a biker coming from the opposite direction. Sources in the CMO said that 17 passengers were killed and the rest were injured. Many belonged to Garhwa.
Nine passengers from Garhwa district are among the 17 other passengers were killed while 49 were injured. Sources said that 66 passengers were travelling in the bus. Among the 49 injured, 37 are admitted at Balrampur hospital while the rest are admitted at Garhwa sadar hospital. Garhwa DC Neha Arora has appreciated Chhattisgarh administration for its co-operation in rescue operation.
The Chhatisgarh government has also announced immediate relief of Rs.25,000 each to those killed in "Raman Singh personally met the injured at Ambedkar hospital and arranged for flying some of the critically injured to Raipur using choppers and shared details of the incident with Das on telephone," CMO sources said. Das is leant to have expressed gratitude for arranging immediate relief measures.