TIL Desk/National/Srinagar/ Ten people died and 28 others were injured when an overcrowded mini-bus plunged into a deep gorge in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Wednesday, officials said in Jammu. The bus was on its way to Poonch from Gali Maidan when it met with the accident near Brari Nallah in the border belt of Sawjian around 8.30 am, they said.
The officials said a joint rescue operation by the Army, police, and local villagers was immediately launched. Nine passengers were found dead on the spot, while another succumbed at a hospital. The condition of nine of the 28 injured is critical, the officials said. The bus rolled down several hundred metres into the gorge and hit the hard ground strewn with boulders, they said.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident and announced Rs 5 lakh ex gratia for the kin of the deceased. “Saddened by loss of lives due to a road accident in Sawjian, Poonch. Condolences to bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Rs 5 lakh would be given to the next of kin of the deceased. Directed police and civil authorities to provide best possible treatment to the injured,” Sinha tweeted.
