Six dead after bus falls into deep gorge in J&K's Udhampur

Six people were killed and more than 30 others were injured when a Srinagar-bound private bus skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday night.

The bus was on its way from Surinsar to Srinagar when it fell into a deep gorge at Chandeh village around midnight.

The driver of the bus lost control over the vehicle which rolled down into the gorge, the officials said. They said the driver had reportedly taken the interior route to dodge traffic police in view of the restrictions on the main Jammu-Srinagar national highway which was opened for traffic from Jammu to Srinagar on Saturday after five days of closure due to landslides caused by rain and snowfall.

A rescue operation was immediately launched, they said. 

While five people died on spot while 32 were rescued and rushed to Government Medical College hospital Jammu for treatment. One passenger was declared dead by doctors on arrival.

Injured persons are being treated at the hospital. A few of the injured were stated to be "critical", the officials said. 

(With PTI inputs)