At least 17 people including tourists from outside the State were killed and 34 others were injured when a passenger bus veered off the hilly road near Digdole in Ramban district in the wee hours of Tuesday.
The ill-fated bus was on its way from Jammu to Srinagar when it met with an accident past 2 am on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.
The bus was carrying some tourists, a group of youngsters from Poonch who were going to Srinagar to attend a recruitment rally and a few labourers. Six women and a child also lost their lives in the fatal accident.
According to the local police, the bus rolled down into a 400-feet gorge after driver failed to negotiate a sharp bend.
In the absence of timely rescue operations, some of the critically injured passengers may have succumbed to their fatal injuries. On receipt of the information, the local district and police authorities struggled hard to shift the injured passengers. At day break helicopters were pressed in to service to shift the injured to nearby hospital.
Two senior State Ministers were also rushed to the spot by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to monitor the rescue operations in Ramban. The State Government also announced a cash compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the next of kith and kin of the deceased and Rs 10,000 to the injured passengers.