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The bus, after hitting the lorry, overturned near the toll plaza at Dankuni in Hooghly district early this morning amid fog.
A senior police officer of the Dankuni police station who rushed to the spot for rescue operations said: “We have recovered eight bodies. The injured were rushed to Uttarpara State General Hospital and Walsh Hospital in Serampore. Two of them, who were critical, were later shifted to Calcutta Medical College and Hospital.”
He said the bus driver was absconding, while his helper died in the accident.
As per preliminary reports, the pilgrims came from Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra. The police said around 55 passengers were traveling in the bus. The pilgrims were supposed to go to Kanyakumari after a holy dip in Gangasagar.
Even as the cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained, the official said that either the driver was drowsy while driving or it was because the driver could not see the lorry due to fog.
On January 14, the day of Makarsankranti, lakhs of pilgrims would reach Gangasagar for a holy dip.
Get ready for a chilly dip
Pilgrims ready to take a holy dip on Makar Sankranti should brace themselves for the chill as according to the weather office, the cloud cover over the city will be clear by tomorrow and the northerly winds will bring in more cold. Today the maximum temperature recorded was 22.9 degrees Celcius, which is four degrees below normal. “As the sky is expected to clear tomorrow the temperature will dip further,” said a weather official at Alipore Meteorological Office. On January 15 the temperature is expected to dip even further.
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