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STATE TIMES NEWS
Udhampur: Twenty-four people died and at least 52 others were injured, six of them critically, when a bus they were travelling in rolled down into a deep gorge in Udhampur District on Monday.
The passenger bus (JK02AE-2858), which was on its way to Udhampur from Latti belt, skidded off the road and rolled down into the gorge in Maroti belt in the district, officials said.
The dead have been identified as driver Sham Lal resident of Jammu, Kamani Chowhan, wife of Rattan Chand, Munshi Ram, son of Nikko Ram, Ranjeet Kumar, son of Charan Dass, Bal Krishan, son of Daya Ram, Kaku Ram, son of Masu, resident of village Jakhed, Poli Devi, wife of Mulkh Raj, Kaku Ram, son of Maan Chand, Gouran Devi, wife of Kaku Ram, Bodh Raj, son of Shiv Dass, Gaytri Devi, daughter Bheem Sain, resident of Latti, Pachoo Ram, son of Diwan Chand, Onkar Chand, son of Hem Raj, Babli Devi, wife of Bittu Ram, minor boy of one year Rohit, son of Bittu Ram, Vass-u-Din, son of Abdual Hamid, resident of Ramnagar, Kamala Devi, wife of Krishan Lal, Jiwan Kumar, son of Puran Chand, Shoba Devi, wife of Jagdev resident of Majori, Vidya Devi, daughter of Bushan Kumar, Sharda Devi, wife of Bushan Kumar, Vashnoo Devi, wife of Mool Raj, resident of Seera, Shanoo Devi, wife of Madan Lal, resident of Manwal and Mohd Maqbool, son of Gulam Butt resident of Srinagar.
Some injured passengers of the ill-fated bus are in the dark about the fate of their loved ones who were with them when the tragedy struck.
For 32-year-old Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Latti village of Udhmapur district, the journey towards Jammu was aimed at bringing cheers to his entire family, but little did he know that it would end with a struggle for survival.
Rakesh along with his wife and a two-year-old daughter boarded the ill-fated bus just minutes before it met with the accident. The family was on its way to Udhampur as Kumar’s wife was expecting a child.
“My wife was expecting second baby and we all boarded the bus just two minutes before the accident took place,” he said.
Rakesh said that as the bus was overloaded he along with his wife and daughter had to stand in one corner of the bus.
“As we were settling down, suddenly the bus rolled down the gorge,” he said.
Rakesh received multiple fractures and said that he has no information about the whereabouts of his wife and daughter.
“My wife and daughter have been missing, I have no information whether they have survived or not in the accident, as I myself have been left with broken limbs I cannot even get up to search for them,” he said.
A large number of patients who were shifted to Government Medical College Hospital Jammu for treatment have no information about the whereabouts of their loved ones who were travelling with them.
“I was travelling with my wife and two sons, but I have no information of their whereabouts. I can only pray that they must have survived this tragedy,” Perm Nath (56) said.
The hospital authorities here say that their priority right now is to take care of the seriously injured patients.
“So far we have received six persons out of which one was brought dead, doctors of various departments are on the job providing the patients with treatment,” Dr Ravinder Rattan Paul, Medical Superintendent GMC Jammu said.
