13 die as bus falls into gorge in Poonch
MAJOR ACCIDENTS THIS YEAR
JAMMU: Thirteen people, including four women and a minor, were killed and 15 others injured, some of them critically, when a 42-seater passenger bus skidded off a road and plunged into a deep gorge in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday morning.
The accident took place at Plera, 30km from Poonch, in the Mandi area when the driver of the bus (JK-02W-0445), coming from Loran to Poonch, lost control over the vehicle while negotiating a curve and it rolled down into a 100-metre gorge, police said.
The injured were rushed to the sub-district hospital in Mandi from where four have been airlifted to Jammu in a critical condition. Poonch district development commissioner Rahul Yadav said: “At least 13 people died and 15 others were injured. The driver is also among the dead while the conductor is seriously injured. The 42-saeter bus had 30 passengers onboard. The exact cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained.”
While six people died on the spot, five died on way to the hospital and two succumbed to their injuries during treatment, said a traffic police officer. “The road was under repair and there was a curve from where the bus fell into the gorge,” he added.
J&K governor Satya Pal Malik expressed grief over the incident. He prayed for eternal peace to the departed souls and expressed sympathies with the bereaved families. September 14, 2018: At least 17 passengers were killed and 16 injured when a mini-bus skidded off a road and rolled down a gorge in Kishtwar September 22: Four people were killed and nine injured when a Tata Sumo plunged into a gorge in near Gangal Soti in Doda
August 21: Thirteen passengers were killed when a van fell into a gorge on the banks of Chenab in Kishtwar.
At least 851 people have been killed and 6,682 injured in
5,055 road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir this year till Oct.