At least nine people were killed and around 40 others injured on Friday afternoon after a private bus plunged nearly 500 feet into a deep gorge in the Haripurdhar region of Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district, police said.
The accident occurred on a narrow and hazardous stretch of a hill road. Hearing the impact, local residents rushed to the scene and began rescue operations on their own, carefully navigating the steep terrain to assist the victims even before official rescue teams arrived.
Police personnel, district administration officials, and emergency services were subsequently mobilised, and a coordinated rescue and relief operation is currently underway.
According to preliminary information, three to four bodies have so far been recovered from the gorge, while several passengers are feared to be trapped, raising concerns that the death toll may increase.
Local residents at the site suspected that the bus driver may have lost control of the vehicle, causing it to skid off the road due to frost accumulation on the surface.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, in a statement issued here, directed district authorities to provide all possible assistance to the families of those killed and ensure proper medical care for the injured.
