Ajay Raina
JAMMU, Apr 10: In a tragic accident, six persons including a minor girl were killed, while over four dozen persons received injuries, when the over-loaded bus they were travelling in, skidded off the road and plunged into gorge near Bidwan area in the mountainous district.
The ill-fated vehicle bearing registration number JK02J-5723 was on its way to Zahand from Doda, when the driver failed to negotiate a sharp curve and the bus plunged into gorge near Bidwan on Doda-Dhara Link Road, resulting into on the spot death of three persons and injuries to 58 others. Negligent and rash driving was the reason behind the accident.
After getting information, police team, members of district administration and locals rushed to the spot and started rescue operation.
Deputy Commissioner Doda, Bhupinder Singh said, “six persons have been killed and 10 injured rushed to GMC Jammu in chopper for medical treatment.”
Asked about the reason behind tragedy, he said, “detailed investigation is being done to identify the cause behind the incident and suitable measures will be taken so that such incidents don’t reoccur”.
All the injured persons were shifted to District Hospital Doda in police and other vehicles, where three more persons succumbed to their injuries raising the toll to six.
Later, 10 injured persons were airlifted to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) for advanced treatment.
The deceased have been identified as Aabida Bano (5), daughter of Mohammad Shaki, a resident of Roti Paderna, Mohinder Singh, son of Girdhari Lal, a resident of Bidwan, Mohammad Sayeed, son of Mohammad Shabir, a resident of Ghat, Prithvi Raj, son of Bid Lal, a resident of Dhara-A, Ghulam Hassan, son of Mohammad Ramzan, a resident of Dhara-B Shahid Hussain, son of Mohammad Shabir Dev of Zahand.
The injured have been identified as Farooq Ahmed, son of Mohammad Sabar of Zahand, Ghulam Mohammad, son of Mohammad Azadulla of Zahand, Mohammad Shami, son of Noor Ahmed of Bhagwah, Mohammd Shafi, son of Sakinder of Manool Bhagwah, Jameel Begum, wife of Noor Din of Manool Bhagwah, Ghulam Mustafa, son of Dander Hazam of Manool Bhagwah, Mohammad Shafi, son of Mohammad Akram of Dhara, Nizar Ahmed, son of Abdul Gani of Tanta, Ghulam Hussain, son of Mangta Tal of Posta Dhara, Begama Begum, wife of Mohammad Ayoub of Chapra Dhara, Mohammad Ayoub, son of Syed Aziaz of Chapra Dhara, Zafferulla, son of Bashir Ahmed of Ugad, Mushtaq Ahmed, son of Atta Mohammad of Sheela, Khana Begum, wife of Nazir Ahmed of Zahand, Parveen Begum, wife of Nisar Ahmed of Tantha, Niaz Ahmed, son of Ghulam Mustafa of Bhagwah, Abdul Gani, son of Jamlu Hasan of Roti Padrana, Mohammad Hafiz, son of Abdul Sabar of Haneh, Ghulam Qadir, son of Aslam Tak of Roti Paderna, Sahina Begum, wife of Mushtaq Ahmed of Malna, Satosh Devi, wife of Haseeb Singh o Jodhpur, Mohammad Sakhi, son of Mangta Malik of Roti Paderna, Rubina Begum wife of Mohammad Sakhi of Roti Paderna, Anwar Din, son of Lala Kumhar of Dhara, Naseeb Chand, son of Hari Lal of Batal Roti Paderna, Mehfooza Begum, wife of Javed Ahmed of Parbati, Asim, son of Javed Ahmed of Parbati, Muneef Ahmed, son of Bashir Ahmed of Malna, Shabir Ahmed, son of Farooq Ahmed of Malna, Jagdish Raj, son of Tej Ram of Dhara, Kala Devi, wife of Sanjay Parihar of Roti Paderna, Rehana, daughter of Irshad Ahmed of Roti Paderna, Akhter Hussain, son of Mohammad Shafi of Posta Dhara, Gulabi Begum, wife of Ghulam Hassan of Bhabore, Mohammad Hummed, son of Sabir Hussain of Mathori, Sameer Ahmed, son of Maqbool of Bhabore, Nirmala Devi, wife of Satish Kumar of Mathori, Satish Kumar, son of Jagdish of Mathori, Parvez Ahmed, son of Rustam of Roti Paderna, Mohammad Abdullah, son of Habib of Hanch, Bipen Lal, son of Doulat Ram of Roti Paderna, Irshad Ahmed, son of Abdullah Naik of Mathori, Jabeela Begum, wife of Irshad Ahmed of Mathori, Aneed Ahmed, son of Irshad Ahmed of Mathori, Sakina Banoo, wife of Ghulam Qadir ak of Roti Paderna, Nissar Ahmed, son of Ghulam Hassan of Dhara, Ankit Parihar, son of Sanjay Parihar of Roti Paderna, Ashiq Hussain, son of Ghulam Rasool of Roti Paderna, Shouba Devi, wife of Doulat Ram of Dhara and Razia Begum, wife of Nizam Din of Dhara.
A case under FIR Number 56/16 under Sections 279, 337 and 304-A RPC has been registered at Doda police station and manhunt has been launched to nab the driver, who escaped from the spot soon after the accident.
Despite accidents on mountainous roads in the past, overloading still goes unabated. The example of this is today’s accident, in which 6 precious lives were lost and more than four dozen people received injuries.
While talking to the EXCELSIOR, some of the injured persons stated that the driver was driving the bus rashly. “We asked him several times to control the speed, but he did not paid any heed to our requests and later with driver’s negligence, the bus plunged into gorge and we landed in hospital”, they added.
However, some of the witnesses said, “the incident occured exactly at the time when State was hit by a high intensity earthquake”.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti expressed grief over the death of six persons in the accident.
In her condolence message, the Chief Minister conveyed her heart-felt sympathies to the bereaved families in their hour of grief and prayed for eternal peace to the departed souls.
She also wished speedy recovery to those injured in the accident.
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, who is also M.P. from Udhampur- Kathua-Doda constituency, has conveyed his sympathies to the victims of the road accident has offered all possible financial help from his side for medical aid as well as other assistance to the affected people.
Soon after receiving the report of the road mishap, Dr. Jitendra Singh immediately called up Deputy Commissioner, Doda, Bhupinder Kumar and issued instructions to make arrangements for shifting the seriously injured to Government Medical College Hospital, Jammu. He also offered to give full financial help from his side to those affected by the accident.
Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Nirmal Singh has also expressed grief over the death of passengers.
In a condolence message, the Deputy Chief Minister conveyed sympathies to the bereaved families and prayed for peace to the departed souls. He also hoped that the injured would recover soon.
Dr. Singh further directed the authorities to provide every possible medical assistance to the injured, so that they can recuperate as early as possible.
MLA from Doda, Shakti Parihar and MLC Naresh Kumar Gupta also expressed shock over the tragic road accident.
Mr Gupta stressed that reports submitted by various committees on road accidents should be looked into and appropriate steps taken on ground to minimize the number of mishaps in erstwhile Doda district.
Earlier, Minister for Health and Medical Education, Bali Bhagat along with Minister of State for Health and Medical Education, Asiea Naqash rushed to GMC Hospital to ensure that accident victims receive immediate and best treatment in the hospital.
Mr Bali, who remained in the hospital for over two hours, personally monitored treatment of each injured shifted to GMC. He had kept the administration of the GMC and doctors in Emergency Wing alert soon after getting information about airlifting of injured to Jammu. He ensured that hospital administration provides best possible treatment to the victims.
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