Shimla, July 28 (IANS) Police and rescue workers Wednesday morning again began to search for four people who were missing a day after their bus skidded off the road into a rivulet in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla district, officials said.
A state-run bus with more than 30 passengers on board fell into the rivulet Tuesday due to heavy rains near Kupvi in Chopal subdivision. Twenty seven people have been rescued and one body has been retrieved so far.
"Families of four passengers have informed the police that their kin are missing. We are trying to find them out," Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) Ramesh Thakur told IANS.
He said the bus could not be pulled out as the rivulet was flooded.
Police officer Sohan Lal said: "The missing passengers were either trapped in the bus or drowned. The bus is lying 100-feet below the road. Heavy rainfall in the area has flooded the rivulet."
He said the bus skidded off the road as a portion of the road caved in due to rains.
The bus was on its way to Kupvi from Shimla.
Superintendent of Police R.M. Sharma said that according to the bus conductor, 30-32 people were travelling in the bus.
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has informed his counterpart in Uttarakhand about the accident.
A government spokesperson said there was a possibility of bodies being swept towards Uttarakhand as the accident spot was located on the border of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.