PG mates, an all-girls’ trip planned for months, and then a tragic blow

Noida: After saving up for months and bonding over a shared love for the mountains, six young working women who lived in a Sector 51 PG accommodation had set out for the vacation they had imagined and replayed in their minds many times.

Their trip needed not just logistical planning, but coordination of leaves and budgets to match. Finally, it fell into place and off they went to the hills of Uttarakhand for an all-girls trip, booking their place on a Tempo Traveller.

It could have been a group of seven had another friend been able to skip her coaching classes in Kushinagar, UP.

Missing her as the van coursed towards Rudraprayag on Friday night, Shubham Singh (27) got on a video call with Beenu Agrahari to show her the breathtaking views and delight of the rest of the group — Vandana Sharma (30), Mohini Pandey (27), Smriti Sharma (28), Nikita Bhatt (26) and Anjali Srivastava (27).

An hour later, the mini-bus with 26 passengers, including the driver, skidded off the highway and fell into a gorge near Raitoli. From this group of six, Vandana and Shubham were the only ones to survive. Both have severe injuries.

“I was the first one to find out about the accident. Cops called me just an hour after Shubham was showing me the view. She was all excited,” Beenu, her childhood friend, said over a call on Monday.

Beenu told TOI Shubham had asked her to join the group for the trip, but she couldn’t go. Shubham, also from Kushinagar, had shifted to Noida four to five months ago.

Beenu said Shubham was rushed to a district hospital in Rudraprayag and later to a facility in Pithoragarh, but they didn’t treat her injuries seriously. “I asked the hospital staff to video call me, so I could see my friend. She was just wrapped in a white bedsheet with a bandage on her head. The staff asked her family to get her discharged. We forced them, after which they referred her to AIIMS Rishikesh. She has severe injuries on her shoulders, waist and head, and has lost a lot of blood,” Beenu said.

The only other of the group to survive — Vandana from Prayagraj in UP — is admitted to Yatharth Hospital in Noida.

Vandana’s brother Ashish said the group was already talking about planning another trip.

“My sister told me that after this trip, all six of them will go to Ujjain next month. She had never travelled this far before. The six of them were very excited. Vandana has already undergone two operations, and four more will be done on her legs, thighs, ankles and waist,” said Ashish, who works in Delhi.

Ashish told TOI Vandana worked as a data analyst for a private firm. The caretaker of the Sector 51 paying-guest facility, where the six women lived, said the group had been planning for this trip for a long time. He last saw them leave the facility around 8pm on Friday to catch the 11pm mini-bus from Delhi.

On Monday, Smriti Sharma’s family was in Uttarakhand to take her body.

Her mother said she regretted letting Smriti shift to Noida. “At this age… I have to take my child’s body to Haridwar. What sin have I committed to have to see this? I want to hold my daughter once again,” she said. The family belongs to Sambhal in UP.

Noida district magistrate Manish Verma said the administration was in touch with the women’s families. “Their bodies have reached their families in their hometowns,” the DM said.

Mohini belonged to Pratapgarh (UP), Nikita was from Umru Khurd in Uttarakhand and Anjali from Champaran, Bihar. Eleven others on the Tempo Traveller died on the spot or succumbed to their injuries. Another 11 are being treated across hospitals.


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