At least 25 people were killed and 21 injured when a bus skidded off the Jammu-Doda-Batote highway and rolled down into a gorge at Assar in Doda district, 145 km northwest of Jammu, on Monday afternoon.
Deputy Inspector General of Police Deepak Kumar said the 21 injured were airlifted in MI-17 helicopters to Jammu from where they were taken to the city’s government medical college. “The road has been in a bad shape for about last seven months,” Kumar said.
Kumar the bus was moving at a high speed on a kuccha stretch near Assar. On spotting an army vehicle coming from opposite side, the driver applied the brakes and the vehicle skidded off the road.
It’s the third major bus accident in Doda this year. On June 7, 19 people had died in a mishap. In another accident on February 25, 41 people had lost their lives.
Angry at the frequency of road accidents, people pelted stones at the ministers and officials present at the Assar health centre, where some of the injured were being treated.