20 killed, 26 injured as bus falls into gorge in J&K

Twenty people, including two infants, were killed and 26 injured when a bus in which they were travelling rolled down into a deep gorge on the Jammu-Doda-Batote highway at Assar

The bus, on way from Doda to Jammu, plunged into the gorge on the banks of river Chenab at around 1320 hrs, Senior Superintendent of Police (Jammu and Kashmir National Highway) Alok Kumar said.

The accident happened when the driver of the ill-fated vehicle was negotiationg a sharp bend, he said.

Twenty people, including two women and two infants, were killed in the mishap, he said adding the injured were admitted to nearby hospitals.

An IAF chopper airlifted eight critically injured from the scene of the accident to Jammu city for treatment, the SSP said.

Jammu and Kashmir governor NN Vohra and Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad expressed shock and grief over the loss of lives in the accident.

Azad, who is Nepal, asked the state administration to provide immediate relief to the bereaved families and proper medicare to the injured.