At least 17 people were killed and more than 30 injured in a road accident involving a passenger bus at Digdol in Ramban district of Jammu on Tuesday early morning.
The bus, which was travelling from Jammu to Srinagar, skidded off the road and rolled down into a 400-feet-deep gorge on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, reported ANI News. The incident happened at around 2.30 am on Tuesday.
As many as 17 passengers including six women and one child were killed in the accident and 34 others were injured. At least 17 of the 34 are seriously injured. The accident is said to have happened due to the negligence of the driver, however, the exact cause of the mishap is yet to be ascertained.
Police officials, CRPF team, army officers launched the rescue operation and recovered the bodies from the gorge. The injured were shifted to the District Hospital in Ramban. Helicopter service has been arranged to shift the grievously injured passengers to Jammu, according to media reports.
Ramban bus accident : Injured admitted to a hospital in Jammu pic.twitter.com/Gx8FUbFhUO
— ANI (@ANI_news) May 20, 2014
Most of the passengers travelling in the bus were youths from Poonch and Rajouri districts, who were going to Kashmir valley for a recruitment rally. The bus also carried some tourists and labourers from Gujarat and Punjab.
Udhampur constituency MP Jitendra Singh has reportedly urged the authorities to provide medical facilities for the injured in the accident and compensation for the families of those who died in the accident.
