At least 20 passengers were killed when a minibus rolled down a hilly road and fell into deep gorge in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on Monday, a senior police officer said.
The bus, which way on its way to Kishtwar from Keshwan, skidded off the road at Sirgwari and rolled down into the gorge around 7.30pm.
The bodies of 20 passengers have been recovered so far, IGP, Jammu, M.K. Sinha, told PTI.
Earlier, police officials had said that 24 people have been killed in the accident. Rescue operations are on, he said.
Political leaders took to Twitter to express their shock over the incident:
The accident in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar is heart-wrenching. We mourn all those who lost their lives and express condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover at the earliest.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 1, 2019
Extremely saddened to learn about the loss of lives due to a road accident in Kishtwar, Jammu & Kashmir. My deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones. I pray of the speedy recovery of those injured.
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) July 1, 2019
Saddened to hear about the tragic accident in Kishtwar. Deepest condolences to families of the bereaved.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) July 1, 2019
Terrible news coming in about the high death toll in a bus accident in Kishtwar. Condolences to the families of the deceased & prayers for the swift recovery of the injured.
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) July 1, 2019
Our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved in this tragic accident. https://t.co/Tm6HLQjpgO
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) July 1, 2019
Deeply saddened to learn about loss of lives in a road accident in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir. My condolences to the members of bereaved families and wishes for the speedy recovery of the injured.
— VicePresidentOfIndia (@VPSecretariat) July 1, 2019
Deeply saddened by the loss of precious lives as a bus fell into a deep gorge in #Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir. Pray the bereaved families for courage to overcome their irreplaceable loss and wish for the speedy recovery of the injured.
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) July 1, 2019
Saddened by the terrible bus tragedy in Kishtwar.
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) July 1, 2019
My thoughts are with families of the victims.Request INC workers to assist in medical help to the injured.
We need to seriously think about preventive measures to avoid such regularly occurring accidents. https://t.co/Xb0RO2HcEM
