16 Amarnath yatris killed as bus falls into gorge in J&K
: At least 16 Amarnath pilgrims were killed while 29 others injured when the bus in which they were travelling fell into a gorge near Banihal town in Ramban district on the JammuSrinagar national highway on Sunday.
“At 2.15 pm, a state road transport corporation (SRTC) bus carrying around 50 Amaranth pilgrims bound for the Baltal base camp fell into a gorge near the Nachlana army camp,” Doda-Ramban range deputy inspector general Basant Rath told HT. “As many as 16 pilgrims were killed, out of the 29 injured, 11 were shifted via road to Srinagar, while 18 others were totaken to the government medical college and hospital in Jammu,” he added.
As per sources, the accident occurred when the driver while reversing the bus lost its control and the vehicle plunged into a gorge. Police, Army and CRPF, with help from locals, launched rescue operations and brought out the bodies and the injured persons from the nullah, they said.
The bus was part of 143-vehicle convoy which left the Bagwati Nagar Base Camp in Jammu in the morning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed pain at the loss of lives of in the accident. “Extremely pained by the loss of lives of
Amarnath yatris due to a bus accident in J&K. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased,” Modi tweeted. “I pray that those injured in the bus accident in J&K recover soon,” he added. Union home minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Jammu and Kashmir governor NN Vohra and chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and took stock of the situation. Governor Vohra along with DGP SP Vaid visited the accident site.