The bus was ferrying pilgrims from Nepal to Haridwar when it got stuck in swollen river waters in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh.

New Delhi: Fifty-three passengers were safely rescued after a bus carrying pilgrims from Nepal to Haridwar got stuck in the strong current of a river swollen due to rains in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

According to the police, on Friday morning, a passenger bus carrying pilgrims from Nepal to Haridwar got stuck in the strong current of Kotawali river on Bijnor-Haridwar NH 74.

“Upon receiving information about the incident, police rushed to the spot and took the bus out, along with all 53 pilgrims safely from the river with the help of a JCB and Poclain machine,” SHO Mandawali Ravindra Singh told news agency PTI.

Meanwhile, a video showing the bus partially submerged in the river waters has gone viral on social media platforms. The viral video shows the bus stuck in the swollen river as passengers wade through knee-deep waters in an attempt to get to safety.

#WATCH | Haridwar: A bus got stuck in the river swollen due to rain. We have rescued the bus and saved the lives of all 53 passengers: Police pic.twitter.com/wL1GL0djAh

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 15, 2023

The bus was later pulled out of the overflowing river with the help of a JCB (earthmover) machine, another video showed.

In UP’s Bijnor, an earthmover deployed to pull out a Haridwar bound Indo-Nepal friendship bus caught in the gushing water in Kotawali river. All the passengers have been successfully rescued. pic.twitter.com/LCEVnasqhG

— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) September 15, 2023

SHO Singh said the strong currents of the river are caused due to heavy rains in hilly areas. The officer said all 53 passengers have been rescued and are completely safe.

Haridwar district has been witnessing severe waterlogging  and traffic snarls in several areas of the city- including Ranipur, Jwalapur Market and Moti Bazaar- due to heavy rains that lashed the area since late Thursday night,

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an “orange” alert in the state and predicted heavy rainfall from September 15 to 17 along with the isolated heavy downpours of 64.5 mm to 115.6 mm.

A yellow alert has also been issued by the IMD for all district of the state till September 18.

(With inputs from agencies)