A devastating bus accident in Jammu district on Thursday claimed the lives of 22 people, including nine women and two children, and left 54 others injured. The tragedy occurred when a bus carrying pilgrims skidded off the road and plunged into a gorge, according to officials. The incident took place at Tungi-Morh in the Chowki Chora belt of the district. The ill-fated bus, bearing registration number UP81CT-4058, was trans porting 75 passengers from Haryana’s Kurukshetra to Shiv Khori in Reasi district, Jammu and Kashmir.
It had started its journey from Ut tar Pradesh. Around 12:35 pm, the bus rolled down ap proximately 150 feet into the gorge. Officials have identified one of the deceased women as Dharampati, 42, from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. Most victims hail from Ut tar Pradesh. The injured include 25 women, 17 men, and 12 children, with six in critical condition. The de ceased have been moved to Akhnoor sub-district hospital, while the injured were initially treated at Akhnoor hospital before being transferred to Government Medical College (GMC) hospital in Jammu. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha expressed deep sorrow over the accident and announced an ex-gratia pay ment of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. “The bus accident in Akhnoor is heart-rending. I condole the loss of lives and pray to the almighty to give the bereaved families the strength to bear the irreparable loss. Praying for a speedy recovery of the injured,” Sinha said in a condolence message.
Rescue operations involved the Army, police, and local volunteers, who used ropes and formed human chains to retrieve the bodies and as sist the injured. Cranes were employed to extract the bus from the gorge, and the res cue efforts are ongoing. According to Amar Chand, an injured passenger, the accident occurred as the driver attempted to navigate a blind curve while a speeding car approached from the oppo site direction, causing the bus to lose control and fall into the gorge.