11 dead, 25 injured as overloaded minibus plunges into deep gorge in J&K’s Poonch

At least 11 passengers were killed and 25 others injured when an overloaded minibus they were travelling in veered off the road and fell into a deep gorge in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Wednesday morning, police said.

“The death toll is likely to go up in view of the critical injuries to 9 passengers,” said a police officer.

The mishap occurred around 8.30am. Poonch is around 250 km from Jammu.

The officer said the minibus, a Canter (Jk 12/1419), was on its way to Poonch from Gali Maidan when it veered off the road and fell into a 100 feet deep gorge by the Barari Nullah (rivulet) in Sawjiyan area close to the Line of Control (LoC).

The mini bus was overloaded beyond its capacity with 38 passengers in it, mostly students of a government school and other daily commuters, he added.

Soon after the accident, locals, police men and army personnel from a nearby unit rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation. They evacuated the injured and deceased to the district hospital Poonch.

Among those killed included two boys aged 5 and 14 years, two teenage girls and a woman.

Lieutenant governor (LG) Manoj Sinha has expressed grief over the loss of lives.

“Saddened by loss of lives due to a road accident in Sawjian, Poonch. Condolences to bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. ₹5 lakh would be given to the next of kin of deceased. Directed Police and Civil authorities to provide best possible treatment, “ he wrote on his Twitter handle.