STATE TIMES NEWS
BHADARWAH: Seven persons were killed, when a vehicle they were travelling in skidded off the road and rolled into a deep gorge in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, police said on Thursday.
The incident occurred on Wednesday night in Paddar belt of the district. The vehicle skidded off the Kishtwar-Himachal Pradesh road and rolled down into 500-foot deep gorge, a police officer said.
According to eyewitnesses, a Scorpio bearing registration number JK02BL 2914, carrying students was reportedly on its way from Gulabgarh to Ishtyari(Padder), when the vehicle reached near Thumb village, about 150 KM from Kishtwar town, driver lost control on the sloppy curve, the vehicle skidded off the road and fell into 500 feet deep gorge.
“Members of Red Cross Society Kishtwar and Police immediately rushed to the spot and started rescue operation, all passengers were evacuated from the gorge and shifted to Nearby Hospital where doctors declared all of them as brought dead,” said the police official.
The deceased have been identified as Manoj Kumar (Driver) son of Mohan Lal resident of Ungai, Narinder Kumar Son of Gian Chand resident of Thumb, Sunil Kumar son of Sahib Singh resident of Thumb, Amar Singh son of Dewan Chand resident of Shawas, Dharminder Singh son of Partap Singh resident of Bastoon, Rohit Singh son of Roop Singh resident of Shawas and Rangail Singh son of Bodh Raj resident of Shawas. Police has registered a case in this regard and started investigation.
Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh have expressed grief over the loss of human lives in the accident.
The Chief Minister conveyed her heartfelt sympathies with the kin of the deceased.
In a condolence message, the Deputy Chief Minister while expressing sympathies with the bereaved families said that all possible assistance would be provided to them. He also directed the district administration to provide every possible medicare facilities to the injured.
Meanwhile MLC Naresh Kumar Gupta and Randeep Bhandari expressed shock over the accident and expressed heartfelt condolence and sympathy with the bereaved families and prayed for eternal peace to the departed souls.
MLC demanded immediate ex-gratia to the family members of the deceased persons.
Meanwhile; Former Minister and National Conference MLC Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo on Thursday expressed deep grief and shock over the deaths in a road-accident in village Thamb of Ishtiyari area near Padder and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families.
Seeking immediate ex-gratia to the next of kin of those who died in the accident, Kichloo expressed concern over growing accidents, saying immediate preventive measures were needed to be taken by all concerned. He called for synergised efforts in regulating traffic so that precious human lives are saved. Kichloo expressed solidarity with the families and prayed for peace to departed souls.