Army officer among 26 killed in separate road mishaps in J&K

The bus was on its way from Reasi to Mahore when it veered off the road as the driver tried to negotiate a curve and fell into a deep gorge at Bidda about 95-kms from here, police officials said.Twenty persons died in the accident which left 57 injured out of which 17 were critical, they said.

Army and police personnel have rushed to the spot and launched rescue operations with four of the seriously injured airlifted to Government Medical College (GMC) hospital, they said, adding that the toll in the mishap may rise.The ill-fated bus met with the accident when the driver was negotiating a curve, police officials said.

In an early morning mishap in Rajouri district, a Rashtriya Rifles Major was killed and three others, including a Colonel, were injured when their vehicle collided head on with a tipper at Sunderbani about 80-kms from here, they said.

The deceased has been identified as Major Vasant Gaurav and the injured, including Colonel L K Chiter, Signalman V K Sharma and sepoy Antony Swamy were admitted in the ICU of Command hospital.

Five armymen were killed and 6 others were injured when an army vehicle of 43 Rastriya Rifles travelling towards Surankote belt of Poonch district, skidded off the road and fell down into a 150-feet deep gorge near Duggar Gala in Chingus area about 165-kms from here in Rajouri district at around 8.30 am today.The deceased jawans have been identified as Parinder Kumar Sharma, S K Singh, Dinesh Singh, B Venakatroa and Rakesh Gulia.
Rescue teams have admitted the injured to the hospital.The army has ordered a court of inquiry to ascertain the exact cause of the accidents, PRO Defence Col Biplab Nath said.