In Himachal Pradesh, at least twenty one passengers were killed and fifty three others injured in two separate road accidents in Shimla District on Tuesday. In one of the accidents, a Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus, on its way from Shimla to Sawerakhud, fell into a gorge at Katarghat killing twenty one passengers on the spot.

Five injured have been admitted in the IGMC hospital. Rescue operations are on and the death toll could rise. The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained.

In another incident about 48 passengers were injured when a HRTC bus carrying about 64 passengers skidded off a slippery road at Mihana area of Balsan in Shimla District on Tuesday morning.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has asked the Shimla district administration to conduct relief and rescue operations on a war footing. The Chief Minister also visited the hospital and asked the hospital administration to provide all possible medical help to the injured.