DELHI, Nov 16 (NNN-PTI) – Thirty-six people were killed and 19 others injured, some of them critically, yesterday, after a passenger bus skidded off a mountainous road and fell into a deep gorge, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.
The accident took place in Assar area of Doda district, about 149 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. The ill-fated bus was on its way from Kishtwar to Jammu city.
“Today (yesterday), a bus with 55 people on board skidded off the road and rolled down into a 300-foot deep gorge. So far, we have information that 36 people have lost their lives in the tragic accident and 19 others are injured,” a police official said.
According to the official, the locals were the first to reach the spot and helped the injured.
The cause of the accident was not immediately known.
Indian President, Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, expressed grief over the deaths in the accident and offered their condolences to the bereaved families.
Deadly road accidents are common in India, due to overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving.
Around 150,000 people are killed every year, in about half-a-million road accidents across India, officials said.
The Indian government has set a target to reduce road accident deaths by 50 percent by next year.– NNN-PTI
