38 killed, 17 injured in Doda bus accident

Thirty-eight people were killed and 17 others injured after the bus fell into a gorge in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda on Wednesday. The injured are being airlifted to Jammu by the district administration for treatment.

Ashutosh Gupta, Principal GMCH Jammu, said, “Four injured from the Doda accident were brought to Jammu; two of them died of their injuries, and treatment for two is going on.”Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday condoled the loss of lives in the tragic Doda bus accident and announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the PM’s National Relief Fund to the next of the kin of each of deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

Home Minister Amit Shah expressed his condolences and in a statement on ‘X’ said that the local administration is actively engaged in the rescue operation at the site of the accident. The mishap took place as the bus carrying 55 passengers and on its way from Kishtwar to Jammu veered off the road and rolled down the steep slope near Trungal in the Assar area on the highway.

Doda deputy commissioner Harvinder Singh said: “It is an unfortunate incident. It was said that the bus was not being run on the right side, which resulted in the accident. Some of the deceased have been identified and the bodies will be handed over to their families. We checked all the details of the vehicle. The vehicle jumped over the crash barriers and rolled down.”