Narrow escape for patients as boulder hits ambulance on Pathankot-Mandi highway

Palampur, July 30
Patients travelling in an ambulance had a narrow escape when a boulder hit their vehicle on the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway near Baijnath last night. The ambulance ferrying patients from Bir was on its way to the Baijnath Civil Hospital. The vehicle suffered extensive damage while no one was injured in the incident.
Bhupinder Singh, SHO, Baijnath, said a police team immediately reached the spot and removed the vehicle from debris. Later, the vehicular traffic was restored after the clearing of the debris from the highway, he said. A big tragedy was averted as the driver of the ambulance managed to drive to the other side of the hill when he saw the debris falling on the highway.
Meanwhile, the local administration has issued an advisory to daily commuters and drivers to drive carefully on roads passing through high mountains between Baijnath and Mandi where landslides are common because of loose soil coming down on the highway. — OC