Excelsior Correspondent
RAMBAN, Jan 4: A mini-bus carrying tourists turned turtle inside the Banihal-Qazigund tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway today, leaving the driver dead and 11 tourists injured.
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The tourists from Bareilly Uttar Pradesh were returning from the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine and were on their way to Srinagar to enjoy snowfall when the driver lost control inside the west tube of the four-lane Navyug tunnel around 1650 hours due to over-speeding. The traffic movement also remained suspended for sometime due to the accident
The driver of the mini-bus bearing registration number JK02AT- 6530 namely Tariq Ahmed, son of Mohammad Irshad, a resident of Tikri District Udhampur, died on the spot, while 11 tourists were injured and rushed to the nearby Sub District Hospital (SDH) Banihal. Later, some of the injured tourists were shifted to GMC Anantnag for specialised treatment.
The tourists had visited the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine atop Trikuta hills and offered their prayers before deciding to go to Kashmir to witness snowfall.
The injured were identified as Riya, daughter of Raj Kumar, Anjali, daughter of Damundhar, Priyanka, daughter of Damundhar, Anil Varma, son of B l Verma, Sandhiya, daughter of Rakesh Kumar, Uma Sharma, son of Ram Avad, Chander Kali, son of Dhamundhar, Sadna Varma, wife of Anil Kumar, Sushiel Kumar, son of Radha Ram, Pinky, daughter of Chotu Lal and Inderban Sakseena, soon of Jagdeshban Sakseena, all residents of Barailly Uttar Pradesh.
Later, the vehicle was removed from the spot and traffic movement was restored.
However, a case under relevant Sections has been registered at Police Station Banihal and investigation started.
Meanwhile, MoS PMO Dr Jitendra Singh tweets, “Spoke to DC Ramban, Islam. Accident near Banihal following tyre burst of a mini-bus. 1 casualty, 11 injured shifted to Banihal hospital, 3 of them to GMC Anantnag. All possible assistance being provided”.
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