11 students die as mini-bus plunges into deep gorge in J-K’s Shopian district

Srinagar, June 27

Eleven students, including nine girls, of a computer coaching institute died and seven others were injured on Thursday when the mini-bus they were travelling in fell into a deep gorge in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district, the police said.

The vehicle, carrying students from the Poonch-based institute, fell into the gorge near Peer Ki Gali on the Mughal road connecting Bafliaz in Poonch to Shopian, a police official said.

He said 11 students, nine of them female, died in the accident, while seven others were injured.

The injured have been evacuated from the scene of the accident to Shopian hospital, the police said.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident and announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of the kin of the deceased, an official spokesman said.

The Governor directed the administration to provide best medical treatment to those injured in the accident and wished speedy recovery to them, he added. PTI