On Thursday, at least 22 pilgrims, including women and children, were killed when a bus carrying them plunged into a 150-foot-deep gorge near Akhnoor in Jammu and Kashmir. The incident also left 57 people injured, Jammu’s District Magistrate Sachin Kumar Vaishya said. “The bus was carrying passengers from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh when it skidded off the road near Tanda in Akhnoor. Rescue operations are underway,” he said. The condition of some of the injured is critical, officials said.
An injured person said the bus driver lost control over the vehicle, and it was tossed into the gorge, breaking trees on the roadside. The pilgrims headed towards Shiv Khori shrine in Reasi district. “Several passengers were buried under the wreckage of the overloaded bus, and efforts are being made to rescue them.
Among the deceased, Only Dharampati (42), wife of Radhey Shyam of Aligarh, has been identified,” a senior police official said. The bodies of 10 men, nine women, and two children are yet to be identified, police said. Residents of the nearby village were the first to reach the spot.
Troops of the White Knight Corps of the Indian Army. and police personnel are engaged in the rescue operations.
The injured were initially rushed to a hospital in Akhnoor, where most of them were shifted to the Government Medical College in Jammu for treatment.