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16 killed, 20 injured in Kashmir road mishap

by IBNS 11 May 2015, 09:50 am

Srinagar, May 11 (IBNS) At least 16 persons died and 20 others were injured, six of them critically, when a passenger bus in which they were travelling skidded off the road and fell into 400 feet deep gorge on Srinagar Jammu Highway, officials said on Monday.

Official sources said that the accident took place at Maroti belt in the Udhampur   district.

The relief and rescue operation was on when the reports last came in and the bodies were being evacuated from the accident site.

The bus, according to official sources, was was on its way to Udhampur from Latti bel when it  skidded off the road and rolled down
into the gorge in Maroti belt in the district.

Official sources said the accident occurred because the driver dozed off. 

The Quick Response Teams including the local police, volunteers of District Red Cross Society, soldiers of Territorial Army, CRPF and the locals are busy in the rescue operation and recovering the dead bodies from the gorge and the injured are being shifted to District Hospital.

Helicopter service is also being pressed into service to evacuate the critically injured to Jammu.



(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)