145;Every person we picked up turned out dead146;

An uneasy silence prevailed at Kanohar Nullah in Kufri as bodies lay strewn along the the cold and rocky hillside.

BUS MISHAP: Rescuers say with 45 dead, there was no one to give first aid to

An uneasy silence prevailed at Kanohar Nullah in Kufri as bodies lay strewn along the the cold and rocky hillside. All were passengers on board the ill-fated private bus that rolled down 600 feet from Lambidhar, on National Highway 21, close to Kufri.

The bus also broke into several pieces after banging onto the rocks on the hillside. Forty five persons died in the accident.

8220;I could not hear a single cry. All that we saw were scattered bodies as the smell of human blood and flesh rose in the air,8221; said D.D. Sharma, a member of the rescue team of Himachal Pradesh Fire Services.

The team reached the spot within half an hour, by which time local people had gathered at the spot and had rushed survivors to the hospital.

The private bus, Arun Coach HP-63-3774 had started for Shimla from Kotighat in Kumarsain tehsil of Shimla district at 6.30 am. Two families on their way for a wedding in Shimla also boarded the bus along with other passengers.

Dharmor village in Narkanda suffered the maximum loss, with 14 persons belonging to a single clan dead.

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8220;All the medicines and other aid rushed to the spot by locals and students from the nearby Kufri hotel management institute were not used at all. No one could believe that every person who was picked up for rescue turned out to be dead,8221; said Rati Ram of Kufri.

One of the three passengers who boarded the bus at Fagu, just a kilometre before the accident spot, also died. She was identified as Draupadi.

Her sister, 35-year-old Anita, who survived, said, 8220;The bus was moving on the left side, opposite to the side from where it went down and the road was very wide. The driver was moving fast and did not pay attention to the road, due to which the bus went out of control.8221; Anita8217;s husband also escaped with minor injuries.

List of deceased, injured

The deceased include Krishan Chand Kainthla, Lakshmi Kainthla, Tarachand and Paras Ram of Dhamod village, Narkanda; Mohanlal Bhardwaj, Mamta and Chand Devi of Batawada village, Kumarsain; Suresh Kumar of Bharana, Theog; Avdesh of Premghat,Theog; Sushil Kumar of Theog; Naresh Kumar of Panchayat Narkanda; Rajender of Bihar; Kamlesh Chauhan, Shanti Swaroop and Naresh of Badagaon, Kumarsain; Pradeep Kumar and Durga Nand of Bhuna village,Kumarsain; Draupda of Janedghat, Solan; Hiranand of Ujed, Narkanda; Prem Sukh, Vivek Bali and Chetan of Chamola, Kumarsain; Yoganand Bali of Ahar; Jogender 26-year-old bus driver of Kathala; Gangi Devi of Matiyana village, Shilaru; Phuli Devi and Jeet Ram Shayam of Palvi, Theog; Prakash Chand of Shenal, Theog; Krishna and Brijlal of Kandayali; Durga Das of Kumarsain; Narender Kanwar of Kyara, Theog; Deewan Chand of Ghasni, Kumarsain; Kamla Devi of Gallu, Theog; Ramji of Theog, Lal Singh of Thatal, Theog; Pinki alias Lok Chand and Ghanshyam of Kangal, Kumarsain; Rajeev Kumar of Gharin, Theog; Nihal Chand of Nankhadi; Anil of Darog and wife of Naresh Yadav of Gurgaon.

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The injured include Dhayan Singh and Anita of Kufar Faila, Narayan Dutt of Chehad, Lalita of Gullo and an unidentified 15-year-old Nepali child.