2 dead, 14 critical as bus falls into gorge

Jammu, July 7

Two persons died and over 50 others were injured, including fourteen critically, when a bus fell into a gorge in Ramnagar of Udhampur district on Thursday. Carrying people to a wedding ceremony from Gundian to Chhatrairi village, the bus (JK14D 5050) reportedly oversped due to which its driver failed to negotiate a sharp curve on the Basantgarh road.

The deceased have been identified as Prem Nath (55) and Shammi Kumar (32). Those critically injured were taken to the Government Medical College in Jammu while the others were being treated in Udhampur.

The UT government has announced Rs 5 lakh as ex gratia for the deceased’s kin and Rs 50,000 each for those injured. Udhampur SSP Vinod Kumar said, “We are ascertaining as to how many people were there in the bus when it met with the accident.”

After getting information about the accident, the police rushed cops from Kaitha and Majodi police posts to the mishap site. Residents and policemen had to struggle to bring the bodies and the injured back on the main road as it was a steep slope having loose stones.

Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha stated in a tweet, “Directed the district administration to ensure best possible treatment to the injured.” Union Minister Jitendra Singh informed that he spoke to the DC over the mishap.