Around 39 people were killed and 41 others injured when an overloaded bus carrying pilgrims fell into a 300-feet-deep gorge at Nanduri.The accident occurred on Sunday night at around 10.30 pm when the bus skidded off the road after the driver lost control and fell into the gorge, the police said.The bus was returning from a tour of shrines in the state, including that of the Sai Baba at Shirdi, when the mishap occurred. The victims hailed from Mumbai’s Worli suburb. Most of the victims were crushed under the wreckage of the bus. Investigating officials said it appeared that the bus fell into the gorge while negotiating a hairpin bend. District Collector S Chokalingam said rescue operations were going on and seven to eight ambulances had been rushed to the spot. The injured, including the driver, had been admitted to Kalwan, Vani and Nashik civil hospitals, he said. The bodies of those killed in the mishap have been shifted to the Nashik civil hospital. The toll may go up as the condition of the some of the injured is critical. Ganesh Sahebrao Biramne (20), who was rushed to the Nashik Civil Hospital in Biramne, is still awaiting news of his mother and younger brother who had accompanied him on the pilgrimage. “My brother was sitting next to me. The only thing I remember after that is being taken to the hospital by a stranger,” he said.
