20 dead, 16 hurt as minibus falls into J&K gorge

Srinagar: At least 20 people, including four females, were killed and 16 others injured when an overcrowded minibus they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell in a 200-feet-deep gorge along the highway connecting Jammu and Kashmir’s twin capitals of Srinagar and Jammu on Saturday.

The police and hospital sources said that the condition of five of the injured is critical. They were among the ten injured earlier flown to winter capital Jammu for specialised treatment at City’s Government-run Medical College Hospital.

Deputy inspector general of police Rafiq-ul-Hassan said that the corpses of 14 passengers and the driver were retrieved from the accident site. He added that the condition of 10 persons among the injured was stated to be critical and they were airlifted to Jammu for specialised treatment.

The ill-fated minibus was plying between the highway towns of Banihal and Ramban and met with the accident while negotiating a curve along the hilly road. Ramban’s SSP Anita Sharma said the minibus was jam-packed and on reaching Kela Morh, near Maroof along the 294-km Srinagar-Jammu highway, the driver lost control and the vehicle rolled down the 200-ft-deep gorge.

Officials said that the J&K police and the Army personnel, along with local volunteers, started the rescue operation immediately.

However, it took time for the rescuers to reach the ill-fated vehicle due to the steep slope.

Ramban’s deputy commissioner Showkat Aijaz said that on seeing the condition of injured he quickly requisitioned for a helicopter to airlift them to Jammu.

This was the fifth such incident in past one month in the hilly Chenab valley of Jammu and Kashmir. More than 50 people have been killed in these mishaps.

Experts attribute the incidence to bad roads, overloading in public transport buses and, at times, reckless driving.