A 56-year-old woman was killed and over two dozen others were injured after a state transport bus skidded into a 300-feet gorge along the Saptashrungi Hills in the Nashik district on Wednesday.
A bus operated by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has originated from Buldhana.
After an overnight halt, when the bus was on its way from Saptashrungi to Khamgaon, the bus skidded down to the gorge near the Ganpati point as the driver seemed to have lost control amid the foggy weather, reports reaching here said.
The deceased was identified as Asha Rajendra Patil, who hailed from Amalner in Jalgaon district.
Twenty-one other passengers besides the driver and conductor were injured in the accident.
The Nashik district administration and police immediately launched a massive search and rescue operation.
The rescue teams went to the gorge and brought the victims up.
State Ports Minister Dadaji Bhuse, who is the Nashik district guardian minister, immediately rushed to the spot to oversee the operations.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased while the government would take care of the medical expenses of the injured persons.
Bhuse also spoke to the driver and conductor to get a first-hand account of what went wrong.