Five dead, 1 injured as SUV falls into gorge in J&K’s Ramban

Ramban/Jammu: Five people were killed and another was critically injured when a private passenger vehicle skidded off the road and plunged into a 600-feet gorge in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Saturday.

The SUV met with the accident near Senabathi in Ukhral Pogal Paristan area late Friday, they said.

Rescuers found one of the passengers Tauqeer Ahmad (20) dead at the spot while five other critically injured people were rushed to a hospital but three of them -- Mohd Rafiq (40), Abdul Latief (40) and Ajaz Ahmad (20) – succumbed to their injuries enroute.

Shakeel Ahmad (24) breathed his last at a hospital in Srinagar this morning while the condition of Yawar Ahmad (25), the lone survivor, remains critical.

Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Union minister Jitendra Singh expressed grief over the accident and assured necessary support to the injured and families of victims.

Ramban Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Alyas Khan has announced an assistance of Rs 1 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 25,000 to injured.

“All possible support is being extended to the affected families,” the DC said in a post on X.