Excelsior Correspondent
RAMBAN, May 21: One person was died after he was slipped into a deep gorge near Khooni Nalla on the highway while a truck was damaged and trapped in the land slides at Panthyal since last night whereas, the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway has been blocked again due to landslides and shooting stones at Panthyal since last mid night.
An official spokesmans aid that a Srinagar bound truck was extensively damaged after coming under the debris at Panthyal. The truck was loaded with essential supplies and moving towards Kashmir from Jammu. While it was crossing Panthyal land sliding zone, shooting stones from the mountain ridge started and fell on the vehicle.
The driver and cleaner of the truck escaped to safety after jumping down and taking refuge towards hill side while the truck was trapped and damaged badly. It could not be pulled out even till this evening as shooting stones remained continue through out the day.
The National Highway authorities tried to clear the highway during the day but the falling of boulders frequently, stalled the restoration operation. Yet another land slide struck at Morh Ghori this afternoon and blocked the highway at another point. This is the same point where land slide took place yesterday as well. More than 1000 vehicles have been stranded on the highway due to blockade and there are bleak chances of road clearance tonight, a Traffic police official said.
Meanwhile, a passenger travelling in a Srinagar bound bus from Jammu, died on spot when he slipped into deep gorge at Khooni Nallah. The incident took place when the Kashmiri passanger boarded off the bus to attend nature’s call last mid night. It was darkness and winds were blowing. He slipped into the gorge and killed on the spot.
His body was retrieved from the gorge during wee hours today by the Ramban police and the volunteers of QRT. It was shifted to the mortuary of District Hospital, Ramban.
The deceased has been identified as Nazir Ahmed, hailing from Safakadal in Srinagar. He had been quarantined at Kathua and was returning home from Hyderabad. Some more qurantined Kashmir bound passengers were travelling in the same bus. His body was later removed to Srinagar.
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