Six killed, eight injured as boulders hit bus in Uttarakhand

Six people, most of them pilgrims returning from Badrinath shrine in Garhwal Himalayas, were killed and eight injured on Tuesday as boulders from a landslide hit a bus they were travelling in at Lambagad in Chamoli district.

The body of 20-year-old Raju Kumar, a pilgrim from Bijnore in Uttar Pradesh, was the first to be recovered while the remaining five bodies were pulled out of the mangled portions of the bus towards the end of the rescue operation, Chamoli Superintendent of Police Yashwant Chauhan said.

The Rishikesh-Badrinath highway was closed for traffic since Monday night due to rubble on the road at Lambagad.

As the route was cleared and opened to traffic on Tuesday morning, the bus carrying devotees from Badrinath happened to cross the road and was hit by huge boulders falling from the hillside, the SP said.

Eight people, who were injured in the accident, including three pilgrims from Mumbai, are undergoing treatment, he said.