At least two people lost their lives after a bus fell into a gorge in the Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, said officials. The bus was travelling to Ramnagar from Pechound when the accident occurred around 8 am.
According to officials, the bus skidded off the road after losing control at the Gulli Gala in the Basantgarh tehsil. They said the bus was reduced to a mangled heap of iron after which a massive rescue operation was launched.
Emergency response teams and senior officials, including sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), reached the spot and took a cognizance of the incident. Officials said 15 people were also injured in the incident who have been taken to the Public Health Centre (PHC) in Basantgarh and the Sub-District Hospital (SDH) in Ramnagar for treatment.
This is the second such accident that has happened in the Udhampur district in less than a week. On October 15, 18 people were left injured after a minibus skidded off the road and plunged into a ditch near Johnu in Udhampur. However, no casualty was reported.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh, a Lok Sabha member from Udhampur, has taken cognisance of Wednesday's incident and held a telephonic conversation with District Commissioner (DC) Ananth Dwivedi, seeking details about the accident. He also directed him and other officials to ensure that the injured are provided with appropriate treatment and are rescued at the earliest.
In a couple of post on microblogging platform X, the union minister said he has also taken up the issue of construction of Ramnagar to Basantgarh road with the Border Road Organisation (BRO) authorities in New Delhi.
"Just now spoke to DC Udhampur Sh. Ananth Dwivedi, after receiving news of a bus accident on the Basantgarh-Ramnagar road. All passengers were promptly evacuated with the timely intervention of local residents," Singh said in one of his posts. "All necessary assistance is being provided. My office is in constant touch with the administration."
"Unfortunately, two casualties have been reported. 10 injured have reached SDH Ramnagar. Out of 10, 3 are on way to GMC Udhampur. 3 more ambulances are about to reach SDH Ramnagar," he said in another post.
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