Jammu: At least 21 people were killed and 51 injured on Monday when an overcrowded passenger bus plunged nearly 100 metres down a hillside in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district, crushing an auto-rickshaw before landing upside down on the road below, officials said.
An Army convoy passing along the hilly stretch led the rescue operations after the driver of the private bus lost control of the vehicle while negotiating a blind curve near the hilltop Kagort village in the Ramnagar area around 10 am, the officials said.
They said more than 65 passengers, including women and students, were on board, largely daily commuters travelling from Ramnagar to Udhampur. The rescue operations proved to be extremely challenging as the bus was reduced to a mangled heap of iron, with its top portion almost completely torn off.
President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the loss of lives in the accident. Modi also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 for those injured.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah assured the families of the deceased and those injured of all possible assistance. Abdullah also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased, Rs 1 lakh for those seriously injured and Rs 25,000 for those who sustained minor injuries in the accident.
“A bus en route from Ramnagar to Udhampur lost control while negotiating a hilly stretch, plunged down the slope and crushed an auto-rickshaw upon landing upside down on the road below. Fifteen passengers were found dead at the scene, while four later succumbed to their injuries in a hospital,” Deputy Inspector General of Police, Udhampur-Reasi Range, Shiv Kumar Sharma told reporters at the site. The officials said two more critically-injured persons succumbed to their injuries at the Udhampur District Hospital during treatment, raising the death toll to 21.
