RAJOURI: At least 15 passengers have been killed and 24 others injured on Friday after a bus rolled down into a deep gorge in mountainous Rajouri district.
The bus was on its way from Kandi to Rajouri and skidded off the road at Mandir Gala area, police officials said.
Among those killed were four infants in the age group of one-two years, the IANS reports.
Of the 24 injured, the condition of seven is stated to be critical and they have been shifted to the Government Medical College Hospital, Jammu. The truck driver is among those seriously injured.
Speaking on the issue in the assembly, minister for consumer affairs and transport, Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan said that rescue operations have been launched in the area under the supervision of DIG Rajouri-Poonch.
An official spokesman said that the district administration has provided an immediate relief of Rs. 10,000 to the next of the kin of the deceased and Rs. 5000 to each of the injured persons.
The mountainous areas of Jammu and Kashmir like Rajouri and Doda are prone to accidents with overloaded passenger buses in poor conditions often claiming many lives in the region.
