Excelsior Correspondent
AKHNOOR, Aug 3: At least thirty persons were injured, some of them seriously when a bus skidded off the road and fell into a gorge leading to river Chenab in Mera Mandriyan area, about 17 kms from here today.
Reports said the incident took place at around 9.30 am when the Jammu-Chhamb route bus bearing registration No. JK02AM/4669 was on its way to Akhnoor Sub divisional headquarters from Goshan village. The vehicle had hardly traveled 500 meters distance from the place of its origin when it rolled down the road after a `kutcha’ protection wall (Danga) on the Chenab river side suddenly collapsed.
All the passengers onboard including nearly 7-8 students, turned fortunate as the bus after rolling down at the distance of hardly 30 meters down the gorge got suddenly stopped at that point with the help of a tree. “If it would have gone into the flooded river, no body could have survived,’’ an injured victim said at hospital.
Immediately after coming to know about the mishap, the locals rushed to the spot. The police along with two ambulances also reached there shortly. All the thirty injured were shifted to SDH Akhnoor. About a dozen of them were discharged after providing first aid. Half a dozen of them received multiple fractures.
The victims told that it was raining during the night and the condition of road is worst beyond Mera Mandriya. The road is fair weather and the vehicle was also moving slowly. At a place where a `Kutcha Danga’ had been damaged for the last several days, the driver tried to move slowly and pass the dangerous portion, but the protection wall collapsed and the vehicle rolled down. The river was hardly 200 feet down. But with the grace of God a tree gave them life and protected all.
All the injured tried to run away as early as possible as they thought vehicle may slip away any time into the river.
The injured have been identified as Shabnam Sharma, daughter of Jagdish Raj, Sanjay Kumar, son of Baldev Raj, Parshotam Kumar, son of Baldev Raj, Babau Ram, son of Ram Krishan, Manu Kumari, daughter of Behari Lal, Pawan Kumar, son of Balak Ram, Kavita Devi, daughter of Bhagwan Dass, Renu Sharma, daughter of Sardari Lal, Archana Sharma, daughter of Rattan Lal, Ajay Kumar, son of Girdhari Lal, all residents of Goshan, Bittu from Jhakhri village, Asha Devi, wife of Brij Lal from Manda village, Reetu Sharma, wife of Pawan Kumar of Reasi, Bholo Devi, wife of Ashok Kumar of Gosan, Raj Kumari, wife of Thoru Ram of Goshan, Ashu Devi, wife of Mukesh Kumar of Mundh, Shakri Devi, wife of Sukh Ram, Anil Sharma, son of Sardari Lal, Ram Lal, son of Shiv Ram, Milkhi Ram, son of Paras Ram, Ram Krishan, son of Tej Ram, Sunita Devi, wife of Hem Raj, Menakshi Devi, daughter of Som Dutt, Surinder Kumar, son of Bhim Sen, Shubam Sharma, son of Ramesh Kumar, Veena Devi, wife of Babu Ram, Baldev Raj, son of Shiv Ram, Mohan Lal, son of Munshi Ram, Amit Sharma, son of Chaman Lal and Kamlesh Kumari, wife of Chaman Lal all from Goshan village of Akhnoor tehsil. The police has taken cognizance of the matter.
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