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Doda bus accident: Cops point to speeding, driver’s negligence
Doda SSP said it appears that negligent driving caused the crash and that things would become clearer after a through investigation
Police said that the bus accident in Doda that killed 38 people appeared to have been caused by speeding and the driver’s negligence, adding that a thorough probe would make things clearer.
Doda senior superintendent of police (SSP) Abdul Qayoom said, “Prima facie, speeding and negligent driving seemed to be the reason behind the accident. However, a thorough probe will make things clear.There was a sharp bend on the highway. The road condition was good and the bend had a double protection, in the form of a parapet and crash barriers. The bus broke them and rolled down the hill.”
At least 38 people died and 18 others were injured after a passenger bus veered off a mountain road and rolled 300 feet down a hill and fell on another road by the hill side in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.
The private bus, with 56 passengers on board, left Kishtwar town around 8.20am for the 200km journey to Jammu, supposed to be covered in five hours. It had a seating capacity of 52.
Around 11.50am, the driver of the bus lost control in Doda district’s Assar area, police said.
The SSP said that the bus driver died in the accident.
“It was a 2020 model privately-owned bus. The road from where the bus went down the hill was wide and in a good condition. It seems the bus driver was driving the vehicle at a high speed,” said the SSP.
Mukhtiar Ahmed, a volunteer of Al-Care NGO, who was among the rescuers said the accident site was very disturbing with bodies lying all over. We have been helping the administration in rescue operations but it was a gory site for us. Four to five children were pulled out alive.” From Assar, four passengers had boarded the bus and they lost their lives, he said.
We saw 27 to 28 dead bodies on the spot and we shifted them to hospital in rescue vans, said Ahmed.
Ahmed said that there should be a trauma hospital and critical care ambulances in Assar area.
Umar, another rescuer, said, “we saw marks of tyres on the road from where the bus had went down the hill, indicating the driver had applied.”
“It was a bend but the road was wide enough for two vehicles to pass easily. It seems the driver was speeding,” said Umar.
Kishtwar SSP Khalil Poswal said the bus had left Kishtwar bus stand around 8.20am and at 9.30am, it was captured in CCTV cameras at Drabshall checkpost.
At least 616 people have been killed in road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir this year so far. The highest number of deaths were reported from Jammu (134), Doda (59) and Kathua (58).
Last year, 805 people died and 8,372 were injured in road accidents across the Union Territory
