Dehradun: Fourteen people were killed on Tuesday when a bus transporting a marriage party plunged into a gorge while another accident involving a car left three teachers dead in Uttarakhand, authorities said.
The 14 died and two others, including the driver, were in critical condition when their vehicle rolled down a deep gorge on the Sukhidhang-Danda Minar road in Champawat district, police said.
The wedding party was returning from Kaknai village. The deceased belonged to Danda and Kathoti villages.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the deaths and announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to the next of kin. Every injured will get Rs 50,000.
In another accident, a car carrying teachers and headed to a school in Pauri district fell into a gorge, killing three teachers and injuring two others.
Police sources said the teachers were going to the school on Gumkhal Marg from Kotdwar when the driver by mistake pressed the accelerator instead of the brakes.
The dead were identified as Poonam Rawat (45), Bandana Bhandari (42) and Deepak Shah (38). Car owner Jai Veer Singh (58) and driver Arun Kumar (30) were injured. (UNI)