J&K: Minibus plunges into gorge; 15 dead , 14 injured

Mangalore Today News Network

Jammu& Kashmir, Oct 06, 2018 : As per the reports by Hindustan Times , at least 15 people are feared killed and over a dozen injured after a minibus plunged into a deep gorge in Ramban district on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway on Saturday morning, police said.

 

Ramban’s senior superintendent of police Anita Sharma, however, told HT over phone that 12 were feared dead and 14 others were being shifted to the district hospital. The bus was travelling from Banihal to Ramban.

The accident happened around 10:30 am when the vehicle veered off the road and plunged into the gorge.

Police, army, paramilitary personnel assisted by locals launched a rescue mission to evacuate the injured.

Deputy commissioner of Ramban, Showkat Aijaz Bhat also rushed to the spot. Army choppers were being requisitioned to airlift seriously injured to government medical college and hospital in Jammu.

The death toll is likely to go up, police said. The government has sanctioned Rs 5 lakhs for next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for injured passengers.

There has been a spate of similar accidents recently in the Jammu region, usually involving overloaded minibuses.