2nd TRAGEDY HITS AMARNATH YATRA IN A WEEK 16 die as bus falls into gorge
Sixteen Amarnath pilgrims were killed and 27 others injured when the bus they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a 150-feet deep gorge near Ramban on the Srinagar-Jammu highway on Sunday.
Jammu and Kashmir director-general of police Shesh Paul Vaid confirmed this, saying earlier: “Eleven people have died. The number of those injured in the mishap is not yet known. The rescue operation is underway.” Later, the J&K police tweeted: “Ramban accident update. 16 dead; 19 injured being airlifted for treatment. 8 minor injuries.”
Mr Vaid told this newspaper the bus was on its way to the Valley from Jammu when it met with the accident. Other reports said the mishap occurred at Nichilana, around 11 km from the highway town of Banihal, that is 107 km south of Srinagar.
The latest reports from Banihal said the passengers of the ill-fated bus who got minor injuries were being treated at the Banihal sub-district hospital. Nineteen of the injured pilgrims were being airlifted to Jammu for specialised treatment.
Witnesses said the local residents had started a rescue operation immediately after the mishap and were soon joined by the police and an Army
Continued from Page 1 column, while members of the State Disaster Management Force too rushed to the area from a nearby location. Two Army helicopters had been pressed into service, the reports added. The reports said the Jammu and Kashmir Road Transport Corporation bus with registration number JK02V-0594 was part of an Amarnath convoy, and that most probably its driver lost control over the vehicle and it fell into the gorge. Police officials said later that it was part of a convoy carrying 3,603 pilgrims from Jammu to the twin base camps of Baltal and Pahalgam en route the Amarnath cave-shrine.
The deceased belonged to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Assam, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, the police officials said, adding that two women were among the victims. The 40-day annual Amarnath yatra began on June 29 and so far nearly 200,000 devotees have paid obeisance at the 3,888-metrehigh cave-shrine in the Kashmir Himalayas. However, 40 pilgrims died in the first 18 days of the yatra, including 18 in mishaps, 14 due to cardiac arrest and other ailments and eight in the July 10 terror attack at Botengo, Anantnag district.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed pain at the loss of lives, and tweeted: “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... I pray that those injured in the bus accident in J&K recover soon.”