Deogarh, April 19: A pall of gloom descended on Remta village in Deogarh district on Monday and the wailing of kin of those killed in the bus tragedy rented the air as the bodies of the victims reached the village. The entire villager was stunned as almost an entire group of artists of Bharati Gananatya opera party perished in the mishap after their bus plunged into a 300 ft gorge in Gailo ghat in Deogarh district. The air was heavy as the bodies were cremated by the relatives after receiving them here while those kin of the injured gathered in Bargarh district Hospital and Burla Medical College to enquire about their near and dear ones. As many as 27 artistes of the opera party perished and 11 sustained serious injuries in the accident which occurred around seven pm.
District authorities called off the rescue operation around noon after the recovery of the bodies and sending all the injured to the hospitals and asking the RTO to probe about the fitness of the Bus. According to sources, the fitness of the Bus had lapsed since 2013 and the owner of the vehicle had been consistently ignoring the notices of the Transport Department.
The only solace was the miraculous escape of an infant girl and her mother – who worked as a dancer in the Opera.
According to the woman, the bus was being driven by some one who was not the regular driver of the bus. “The driver seemed drunk,” she said.
District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police and other senior officials supervised the rescue operation during the night using generators.
The dead included the owner and manager of the opera party, sources said.
