Post News Network
Deogarh, April 17: At least 32 persons were suspected to have been killed and ten others critically injured when a bus carrying artistes of an opera troupe skidded off the road on Kailash- Gailo ghat and fell into a deep gorge, about 15 km from here Sunday evening, the police said.
However, two children had a close shave and ten other injured persons were being rescued.
The bus carrying over 50 artistes of the Biswabharati troupe including women and children, was returning to Remta in Bargarh district from Deogarh when it plunged more than 500 feet down the hilly Kailash- Gailo ghat, they said. Rescuers claimed that bodies of the victims are lying strewn all over the mishap site. However, they failed to guess the exact number of the dead while 10 injured persons have been rushed to the district headquarters hospital.
‘‘Twenty-seven bodies have so far been recovered and 11 injured persons were rescued from the mishap site,’’ Deogarh superintendent of police Sarah Sharma, who rushed to the site, told newspersons over phone.
Sharma said rescue operation was launched by fire brigade and police personnel along with the help of Kailash, Nialibhanga and Tileibani villagers and some of the injured persons were rushed to Deogarh hospital for treatment. Six ambulances and police vans have been pressed into service.
Generators were pressed into service to facilitate rescue operations in the dark, while senior police and administrative officials have also rushed to the spot to supervise the operations, Sharma said.
Difficult hilly terrain, dense forest cover and low visibility were hampering rescue operations at the mishap site, the SP said. The accident took place when the driver was trying to negotiate a sharp turn on the hilly ghat, she added.
Deogarh MLA Nitesh Ganga Deb who was returning on the ghat road informed about the incident over phone to the police.
According to Deogarh ASP Debiprasad Das, “Many people might have been critically injured during the mishap. Rescue work is underway with the help of fire tenders and ambulance services. The rescue work is getting hampered as the spot is about a kilometer from the road point and poor visibility adding to the difficulties.”
Expressing grief over the mishap Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Sunday evening ordered expeditious rescue operations to save passengers who might have been trapped at the
mishap site.
