Haridwar: On Thursday, days after a bus accident in Uttarakhand's Pauri district that claimed the lives of at least 33 people, atmosphere in Chandi Ghat crematorium in Haridwar remains sorrow-filled, as bodies are received one by one for the last rites.
The freak accident, which saw a bus full of wedding-goers traveling to the ceremony in Kanda village of Bironkhal in Pauri Garhwal district go over the edge and into a gorge, resulting in rescue operations continuing throughout the night. 19 people who were injured were eventually shifted for treatment. There were over 50 passengers on board when the mishap occurred, reversing the wedding union into a tragic spectacle.
Inside the crematorium, on Thursday, lay 12 bodies, cremated simultaneously. Speaking about the incident, a resident of Laldhang in Haridwar, the village from where the attendees hailed, alleged that roads condition had not been looked after by the administration.
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"The leaders come seeking votes ... they tell us, your ration card or other documents will be disabled otherwise. We, then, go to vote. Nobody has yet bothered thinking about how we live in these villages," a resident said.
Daily wage laborer Govind Singh lost his only son Pankaj Singh (16), a student of Class 11 at the Government Inter College, Laldhang. His elder brother Komal Singh's elder son Ghulab Singh (37), daughter-in-law Deepa Devi (30), and granddaughter Priyanshi (8) also died in the accident.
Three attendees, however, escaped unhurt after they alighted the bus sometime before it fell into the gorge. The trio has been identified as Narendra Nath Singh and his two friends, Srichand and Pratap Singh. "I got a call about the sudden death of my father-in-law. Hearing the news, I and two of my friends got off the bus and returned home," Narendra Nath said. (With agency inputs)
