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Updated: Jun 22, 2019 12:52 IST

The death toll in Thursday’s bus accident in Kullu climbed to 45 after a critically injured woman succumbed to her injuries at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh on Saturday.

The deceased was identified as Tara Devi, 42, a resident of Chehni village in Banjar sub-division of Kullu.

The overcrowded private bus had plunged into 500 feet into a gorge at Beoth Mor near Banjar on Thursday afternoon killing 39 dead on the spot while five died in the Banjar hospital. With one more succumbing to the injuries the toll has gone up to 45. The bus was completely destroyed.

Banjar sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) MR Bhardwaj said Tara Devi was on life support system at PGI and breathed her last this morning.

The state government has directed health authorities to provide best possible help to those who are undergoing treatment at PGI and Regional Hospital Kullu.

Crash barriers were missing from where the 42-seater bus with more than 70 people on board, plunged into the gorge. Chief Minister JairamThakur on Friday said that the overloading seemed to be the prima facie reason behind the incident and vowed to take tough action against the overloading of buses in the state.

Also read: Death toll in Kullu bus accident reaches 44

He also announced a decision to launch a special campaign to identify and rectify the ‘black spots’ on roads to minimize accidents.

“Decision has also been taken to sanction the new roads only after the approval of road safety auditors,” he said.

“Special focus on will be laid on improving rural roads having greater traffic load,” he added.

According to official statistics, 11,561 people have died in 30,993 road accidents in Himachal in the last 10 years. More than 56,000 were injured in these accidents.

On an average, three people are killed in road accidents in Himachal Pradesh every day. Till May 31 this year, a total 430 people have lost their lives and 2155 were injured in 1168 road accidents while.