Shimla,: At least 18 passengers were killed and three others rescued after a private bus was hit by a massive landslide in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district on Tuesday evening, officials said.
The accident occurred around 6:30 pm in the Bhalughat area of the Jhandutta assembly segment. The bus, carrying 30–35 passengers, was traveling from Marotan to Ghumarwin when the tragedy struck. Intermittent rains have been affecting the region since Monday.
So far, 18 bodies have been recovered from the debris, and three people were rescued and hospitalized, BJP MLA from Jhandutta, J. R. Katwal, told the media over the phone. Police and district administration officials are on site, with rescue operations continuing in full swing.
An eyewitness involved in the rescue operation said, “The entire mountain came crashing down on the bus.”
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri expressed grief over the incident. CM Sukhu has directed officials to expedite the ongoing rescue operations, according to an official statement.
