NEW DELHI, May 31 (NNN-PTI) – At least 21 people were killed and 40 others injured, some of them critically, after a passenger bus, yesterday, skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.
The accident took place in Chungi Morh area of Akhnoor in Jammu district, about 272 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
“Today (yesterday), a bus with around 70 people on board skidded off the road and rolled down into a 150-foot deep gorge. We are being told 21 people were killed in the accident and 40 others are injured,” an official at the police control room in Jammu said.
Muhammad Saleem Khan, block medical officer of Akhnoor, was quoted by local media as saying that, 21 people were brought dead to a hospital in Akhnoor.
“The critically injured have been referred to Government Medical College Hospital, Jammu, for specialised treatment,” Khan said.
Reports said, the bus, carrying Hindu pilgrims from Hathras in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, was heading to Shiv Khori area of Reasi district, in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Immediately after the accident, locals and police launched a rescue operation to help the injured and pull bodies.
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.
The cause of the accident was not immediately known.
However, traffic department officials said, preliminary investigations suggest the driver failed to negotiate a sharp bend on the road, resulting in the accident.
Deadly road accidents are common in India, often caused by overloading, bad road conditions and reckless driving.
Around 150,000 people are killed every year in about half a million road accidents across India, officials said.– NNN-PTI
