12 pilgrims injured in road mishap

A bus carrying Amarnath Yatra pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh to the Kashmir Valley collided with a truck at Lakhanpur on the Pathankot-Jammu highway in Kathua district on Thursday.

12 pilgrims and a truck driver were injured in the accident though no casualties were reported.

“The mishap took place around noon, when a truck coming from Jammu collided with a bus carrying the Amarnath pilgrims from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. The accident happened as the truck the driver tried to save a speeding SUV. To avert that, he took a turn resulting in collision,” said Lakhanpur station house officer Kulbeer Singh.

Soon after the incident, police team rushed to the spot and rescued the injured, who were taken to a nearby district hospital at Kathua. Later, five of them were discharged.

“We have seized all the three vehicles involved in the mishap, while the stranded pilgrims were shifted to other vehicle, which ferried them to Jammu,” Singh added.

On Wednesday, an ITBP officer had also died of cardiac arrest near the shrine.

Assistant sub-inspector Sanjun Singh (42) had complained of severe chest pain while he was on his way to the cave shrine from Brarimarg.