16 pilgrims injured as bus falls into ditch in Chhattisgarh

At least 16 pilgrims were injured, four of them seriously, after the tourist bus they were travelling in fell into a roadside ditch in Chhattisgarh’s Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi (GPM) district on Thursday, a police official said.

The bus with 36 devotees on-board was on its way back to Khairagarh in Chhattisgarh from the pilgrim town of Amarkantak in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh when the accident took place in the afternoon at Kariaam ghat under Gaurela police station limits, Belgahna Station House Officer Ajay Vaare said.

The bus driver apparently lost control over the steering at a sharp curve and the vehicle fell into the ditch that left at least 16 pilgrims injured, he said.

A police team shifted the injured to Kenda and Ratanpur community health centres, the SHO said.

Four seriously injured pilgrims were later referred to the Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS) hospital in Bilaspur for further treatment, he added.