IANS
 
Lucknow, Oct 12: As many as 40 people, mostly pilgrims from Orissa returning from the Hindu shrine of Badrinath, were killed when the bus they were travelling in fell into a deep gorge in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand Thursday evening.

Chamoli District Magistrate G S Gabriyal said, "The bus was returning from the popular Hindu shrine of Badrinath, when the driver apparently lost control over the vehicle while negotiating a sharp curve, propelling the bus into the Alaknanda river around 5 p.m."

The mishap took place near Vishnu Prayag at a height of about 8,000 ft above sea level.

"The passengers were all Hindu pilgrims from Orissa," Gabriyal told IANS over telephone from the accident site.

"There were 44 passengers on board the bus. While 40 bodies were fished out of the river, two seriously injured were rushed to the district hospital."

Search was on for two passengers, feared to have been washed away by the swirling waters.

Authorities were trying to get details about the passengers from the travel agent who booked the passengers from Haridwar, about 300 km from the site of the accident.

The driver and the conductor of the bus were among the dead.