Ramban / Jammu: Seventeen pilgrims from Amarnath died and about 29 were injured when a bus escaped from the Jammu-Srinagar national highway and rolled into a deep nallah in the Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, authorities said.
The deceased, including two women, belonged to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Assam, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, they said. Sixteen people injured were critical, officials added.
“The 17th batch of Amarnath yatra departed from Bhagwati Nagar, Jammu, at 4:06 am Today at 1:45 pm, one of the SRTC buses met with a fatal accident and rolled down into a nallah near the camp. Nachilana Army in the jurisdiction of Banihal police station, “said a police spokesman.
The J & K State Highway Transport Corporation bus (JKSRTC) was part of the convoy of vehicles carrying 3,603 pilgrims from Jammu to the base camps of Baltal and Pahalgam on pilgrimage to the sanctuary of the Amarnath cave in the south of Kashmir Himalaya.
The injured pilgrims were rescued and the corpses were recovered in an operation launched by the Army, the CPRF and the police, with the help of local residents, he said.
Up to 20 injured pilgrims were transported by air to the Hospital of the Faculty of Medicine of the Government (GMC) for treatment and eight were transferred to the SKIMS hospital in Srinagar by ambulances, he said.
However, one of the wounded succumbed to the GMCH, he said, adding that the death toll rose to 17.
Two of those who suffered minor injuries were discharged. The bodies were transported by air to the GMC hospital, Jammu, for identification and other legal and medical formalities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his grief over the loss of life in the accident and announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the relatives of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured.
“Extremely hurt by the loss of Amarnath Yatris’s lives due to a bus accident at J & K. My thoughts are with the deceased’s families,” Modi tweeted.
“I pray that those injured in the J & K bus crash will soon recover,” he added.
The JKSRTC ordered an internal investigation into the traffic accident.
“An internal investigative committee has been set up to analyze the circumstances that led to this tragic accident with an SRTC bus carrying Amarnath yatris,” said its managing director, Mir Afroz Ahmad.
Defense Minister Arun Jaitley, Interior Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister of J & K Mehbooba Mufti expressed their condolences for the loss of life.
Interior Minister Singh spoke with the governor of Jammu and Kashmir, N N Vohra, and with Prime Minister Mufti, and noted the situation, officials said.
This is the second great tragedy affecting the Amarnath yatris this year.
Earlier, on July 10, militants attacked a bus carrying pilgrims in which eight people were killed.
The CRPF acted as the first responder at the crash site today when a team deployed to Ramban immediately rushed there along with doctors, ambulances and a Quick Action Team (QAT), a CRPF spokesman said.
“Once again the CRPF’s commitment was evident by its prompt action. Force personnel were also present at the Jammu airport from where injured yatris were rushed to GMCH, Jammu,” he said.
