JAMMU Eleven people, including five women and three children, were killed and four others injured when an SUV skidded off a road and fell into a deep gorge in Ramban district of Jammu on Saturday, police said.
The SUV, carrying 15 passengers from Chaderkote to Rajgarh, rolled down into the over 500-feet-deep gorge when its driver lost control at Kunda nallah near Baglihar power house at 10.30 am, an official said.
He said the locals along with the police immediately launched a rescue operation and pulled out bodies and injured from the scene.
While six persons were found dead on-the-spot, five others succumbed on way to hospital, the official said, adding that three more critically injured persons, including driver of the vehicle, were airlifted to Jammu for specialised treatment.
Rajgarh is a far flung tehsil in Ramban district and is connected with the Jammu-Srinagar national highway through a link road which is reportedly damaged at various places.
The allowed capacity for SUV operating in the hilly roads is only seven passengers and the driver of the vehicle has violated the directive, the official said.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Ramban Dr Basharat Inqilabi said that five passengers died on the spot while as 10 others injured were immediately evacuated by the rescue teams to district hospital Ramban for treatment. However, six among the ten injured were declared brought dead by the doctors.
SSP Ramban Anita Sharma confirmed the death of eleven persons and injuries to two others. She said that the sumo plunges into to the gorge at Kunda Nallah.
The deceased have been identified as Karun Singh (10) of Kumate Rajgarh, Romal Din (61) of Mildan Rajgarh, Rubeena Begum (30) of Totarsoo, Mohammad Mubeen (23) of Satra Bhartund, Hassan Bibi (40) of Bagwa Doda, Arjun Singh (9), his mother Babli Devi of Kumate Rajgarh, Immana Bano (13,) her 3-month-old sister daughters of Zakir Hussain of Mildan Rajgarh and Urmilla Devi (32) and her 2-year-old daughter Pari of Daswal Rajgarh.
Another child who was being airlifted to Government Medical College hospital Jammu succumbed at the helipad, the official said, adding the identity of the child and a woman is being ascertained.
In separate cases, a cyclist was crushed to death by an unidentified vehicle in Poonch district, while nine passengers were injured in a collision between two buses along the Jammu-Pathankot highway in Samba district on Saturday.
The cyclist, Prakash (48), a daily wager in Municipal Committee Poonch, was hit by an unidentified vehicle near Jhalas when he was on way to work Saturday morning, resulting in his on-the-spot death, officials said.
They said a bus and a mini-bus collided near Thandi Khui in Vijaypur along the Jammu-Pathankot highway in Samba district around 9.30 am, resulting in injuries to nine passengers.
Three of the critically injured were rushed to Government Medical College hospital Jammu for specialised treatment, the officials said.
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