Eleven people were killed and over 20 others injured today when the bus they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a gorge in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The vehicle bearing 32 to 35 passengers was on its way to Basantgarh in Ramnagar tehsil when the mishap occurred in the Kiya area, said Udhampur Deputy Commissioner, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary.
Eleven persons were killed in the accident, including one woman and a child, he said, adding that 20 others were injured and are being hospitalised.
Choudhary said that the mishap may have been caused due to human error.
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Expressing grief, Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra announced ex-gratia relief of Rs one lakh each to the next of kin of those who died in the accident.
He has also conveyed sympathies to the members of the bereaved families and wished speedy recovery to those injured in the mishap, a Raj Bhavan spokesperson said.
Flagging concern over such incidents, the Governor has asked state Chief Secretary to urgently review the status of implementation of Road Safety Action Plan.
The Governor has asked traffic department to enforce stringent measures to check overloading of transport vehicles, check over speeding and carry out a complete verification of all those who drive buses and trucks on the accident prone roads, the spokesperson said.
