UTTARKASHI: Three women died while 26 were injured when a bus driver lost control over the vehicle and it fell into a gorge near Gangnani on the Gangotri National Highway in Uttarakhand, police said on Wednesday.

According to them, the incident occurred 50 km from Gangnani on Tuesday night. The bus went out of the driver's control, broke the crash barrier, tumbled down the gorge and got stuck on a tree before it could hit the bottom, police officials said.

A lot of lives were saved since it got stuck in the tree and did not fall into the Bhagirathi river, an official said.

The bus was going towards Uttarkashi from Gangotri with 29 people, including the driver and his assistant, a police officer said, adding rescue and relief work began promptly.

According to the officer, the injured were brought out of the bus through the windows and sent to Uttarkashi District Hospital and Bhatwadi Health Centre.

Of the 26 injured, 12 were stated to be in serious condition and they have been referred to a hospital in Rishikesh, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Deepa Varsaliya (55) and Meena Rekwal, both residents of Haldwani, and Neema Keda (57) of Rudrapur in Udham Singh Nagar district, police said.

Most of the devotees were from Rudrapur, Haldwani and Lalkuan of Uttarakhand, while four others were from Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district and one from Bulandshahr.

Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police Arpan Yaduvanshi spoke to the injured people and said prima facie the cause of the accident seemed to be brake failure.

At this same place in 2010, a truck fell into a gorge, killing 27 kanwariyas, while in 2023, seven pilgrims died in a bus accident here.