Shimla: At least 15 passengers were killed as a private bus they were traveling in was struck by a massive landslide in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district on Tuesday evening, officials said.
The accident took place in the Bhalughat area in the Jhandutta assembly segment, they said, adding the bus carrying 30-35 passengers was on its way from Marotan to Ghumarwin.
Police and district administration officials are at the spot and rescue operations are going on in full swing, the officials said.
So far 15 bodies have been recovered from the debris, they added.
The whole mountain came crashing down on the bus, and the chances of survival of the passengers are bleak, said a policeman engaged in rescue operations.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has expressed grief over the accident and directed the officials to expedite the rescue operations, an official statement issued here said.
Intermittent rains have been lashing the area since Monday.
