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Jammu: 4 of family among 5 dead as SUV plunges into gorge in Samba
Five people including four members of a family from Anantnag died and another was injured after their vehicle veered off the road and plunged into a deep gorge near Jamoda area of Samba district on Saturday morning
Five people including four members of a family from Anantnag died and another was injured after their vehicle veered off the road and plunged into a deep gorge near Jamoda area of Samba district on Saturday morning.
The deceased have been identified as Gulzar Ahmed Bhat, 60; his wife Zana Begum, 60; their son Mohammad Iqbal, 30; daughter Masrat Jan, 20 and another person Mohammad Akbar. The injured, Saqib, who was the driver of the car, has been hospitalised with critical injuries.
The SUV was on its way to Srinagar from Punjab and the accident took place at Jamoda near Mansar on the Samba-Udhampur road, officials said.
“The vehicle was carrying six passengers, out of which five died on the spot and one was seriously injured,” said Samba station house officer (SHO) inspector Deepak Jasrotia. He said that prima facie, it appears that the driver lost control over the vehicle. The mishap occurred at around 6.30am.
Terming the accident as “unfortunate”, deputy commissioner (Samba) Anuradha Gupta said four of the deceased were family members of sarpanch Mushtaq Ahmad of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Gupta said she had talked to the sarpanch who is on the way to receive the bodies, while efforts are on to establish contact with Akbar’s family.
She announced immediate relief of ₹1 lakh to the next of kin of each of the deceased and ₹50,000 to the injured from the Red Cross fund.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident.
“Deeply saddened to learn about the loss of lives in a tragic road accident in Mansar, Samba. My deepest condolences to the bereaved families. Praying for the early recovery of the injured,” Sinha wrote on Twitter.
(With agency inputs)
