Shimla, August 8, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
At least seven people were killed and 11 others injured on Saturday when a private passenger bus plunged into a nearly 100-foot-deep gorge in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, police said.
The accident occurred on the Tissa-Bairagarh route near the Chaluj turn, around three kilometres after the bus had departed from Bairagarh for Chamba at about 6.30 a.m. Preliminary information suggested that around 20 to 25 passengers were travelling in the vehicle.
The deceased included the bus driver and conductor, while most of the victims were local residents travelling towards Chamba town. The injured were taken to a hospital in Tissa for treatment.
Chamba Superintendent of Police Vijay Saklani said the exact cause of the accident had not yet been established and would be determined through a police investigation.
According to eyewitness accounts, the driver lost control while negotiating a turn, following which the bus skidded off the road and rolled down the hillside. The vehicle eventually came to rest on the road below.
Local residents rushed to the site and began rescue efforts before police and administrative teams arrived. Rescue personnel later joined the operation, which was complicated by the badly mangled condition of the bus and the difficulty in extricating those trapped inside.
The accident occurred at a stretch of road considered prone to mishaps, with several accidents reported there in the past.
Chamba is among Himachal Pradesh’s more remote districts, where limited availability and low frequency of passenger buses can often result in overcrowding. Police have frequently attributed fatal crashes in the state to unsafe driving practices involving private operators, including allegations of inadequate training among some drivers.
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