Two BSF personnel among three dead in highway accident in JK: Police

Banihal/Jammu, September 19

Two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were among three killed Wednesday when a truck carrying the jawans plunged into a gorge along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, police said.

The private truck, hired by the BSF, was part of a convoy carrying personnel to Kashmir reportedly for deployment in connection with the upcoming municipal and panchayat polls, a police officer said.

The accident occurred around 2.10 pm at Rattan Bass near Banihal in Ramban district when the driver lost control over the vehicle which rolled down into an over 150-feet-deep gorge, he said.           

Civilian volunteers along with police and BSF personnel immediately launched a rescue operation, the officer said.

After hectic efforts, the bodies of two BSF personnel, Ajit Singh and Atma Singh of 89th battalion, were retrieved from the mangled truck.

The driver, Balbir Singh of Simbal area of Jammu, was rescued in a critical condition but succumbed while being shifted to a hospital, he said. — PTI