32 devotees killed in Maharashtra Bus accident

A private tourist bus carrying 50 devotees to Shirdi shrine, Maharashtra from Andhra Pradesh met today an accident, leaving 32 pilgrims dead and 15 reported injured, primary reports say.

According to media sources, a packed tourist bus carrying pilgrims fell off a bridge near Jakot village, 40 km from Osmanabad, on the Hyderabad-Sholapur highway in the wee hour.

The Bus left Hyderabad on Friday night for reaching popular pilgrim centre Shirdi in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district. The accident spot was about 260 kilometres from Hyderabad.

All the injured were shifted to hospitals in Osmanabad and Sholapur.

According to local police there were 14 employees of Tata Consultancy in the bus.

The police were trying to gather information about the travelers but according to reports, they were facing difficulties as most of the travelers had booked ticket online or from various traveling agency.

As the news of bus mishap mushroomed, families of the travelers gathered at the office of Sree Kaleswari Travels in Lakdi Ka Pul here, seeking information about their relatives. They complained that the private travel operator has no details about the victims.

They were anxiously waiting for some information about their near and dear ones.

The passengers could not be reached on their mobile phones.

Expressing shock over the mishap, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy directed the officials to provide all help to the victims and their families.

The State government has sent three officials to Osmanabad to coordinate with the local officials there for medical treatment of the injured and rescue operations.

Ambulances are being sent to shift the bodies to Hyderabad after post-mortem. The Maharashtra government has set up two help-lines for enquiries: 02472 222900, 02472 222700

A team of state government officials including police and medical officers have left for Osmanabad.

--With Agencies Inputs--