Bandipora accident toll rises to 7

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 24

With two more bodies having been retrieved in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district on Saturday morning, the toll in the Friday road accident has risen to seven.

A tipper, carrying at least 10 labourers of Beacon Border Road Organisation (BRO), met with the accident when it rolled down a deep gorge, near Tragbal on the Bandipora-Gurez road, at around 6 pm on Friday.

“In the accident, six casual labourers from Bihar and Jharkhand, and co-driver identified as Manzoor Ahmad, hailing from Bandipora, died,” an official said. “Of the four labourers, who were injured, three are admitted at SKIMS, Srinagar.”

The officer said the driver of the vehicle was missing.

The Gurez area, along the Line of Control (LoC), remains cut-off from the rest of the world for a major part of the year due to the accumulation of snow. The 85-km Bandipora-Gurez road is maintained by the Beacon. The ongoing unrest in Kashmir has affected the road construction activities of Beacon which has faced an estimated loss of Rs 40 crore since the turmoil began on July 9.