Islamabad (Anantnag), July 30: In a tragic accident, eleven passengers were killed and 42 injured, twelve of them critically, when a bus plunged into Lidder river in this South Kashmir district on Saturday.
“The bus bearing registration no. JK03-3341 on way from Khiram, Bijbehara to Pahalgam tourist resort skidded off the road and rolled into the Lidder river at Veersaran near Laganbal bridge,” eyewitnesses said.
Official sources said the bus was carrying about 70 passengers, when it rolled down from about 100 feet height. While eight persons died on the spot, three others succumbed in various hospitals. The injured were rushed to Pahalgam dispensary, sub-district hospital Seer and sub-district hospital Bijbehara wherefrom most of them were referred to district hospital, Islamabad (Anantnag).
“45 injured persons were referred to district hospital Anantnag (Islamabad) for treatment out of which 14 critically injured persons, most of whom had severe head injury were referred to SKIMS, Srinagar for specialized treatment,” a doctor in district hospital Islamabad said.
He said one of the injured person, was brought dead to district hospital while 14 critically injured were shifted to SKIMS. One of them succumbed on way in sub-district hospital Pampore while the other succumbed at SKIMS.
The deceased were identified as 12 year old Arif Bhat S/O Sanaullah of Salar, Muhammad Shaban Kumar S/O Ghulam Muhammad of Kullar, Rafiq Mir S/O Abdul Aziz of Dehwatoo, Muhammad Yousuf Cheechi of Sheikhpora Sallar, Sarwa Begum W/O Ghulam Hassan Lone of Sirhama, her 10 year old son Sartaj Ahmad Lone S/O Ghulam Hassan Lone of Sirhama, Abdul Rehman Tantray S/O Ghulam Muhammad of Deharhama Sirhama, Abdul Gaffar Khan S/O Ahmad Khan of Kullar, Abdul Rehman Tantray S/O  Ghulam Muhamad of Sirhama, head constable Nazir Ahmad Rather S/O Abdul Razak of Khiram and Gul Muhammad Kumar S/O Ghulam Rasool Kumar of Laripora, Pahalgam.
The critically injured persons include, Abdul Rehman Lone S/O Khazir Lone of Khiram; Nazir Ahmad S/O Abdul Razak of Khiram; Muhammad Shafi Rather S/O Ghulam Muhammad of Veersaran; Ali Muhammad Bhat S/O Ghulam Rasool Bhat, Ghulam Muhammad Shergujri S/O Reshi Shergujri of Khiram, Ashiq Hussain Dar S/O Muhammad Sultan Dar of Kathsoo; Ghulam Nabi Bhat S/O Ghulam Rasool of Khiram; Muhammad Shafi Reeshi S/O Ali Muhammad of Veersaran and Ali Muhammad Bhat S/O Ghulam Rasool Bhat of Badroo and Ghulam Qadir Najar S/O Abdul Sabir Najar of Kullar.
All the injured are undergoing treatment in SKIMS. The driver of the vehicle Farooq Ahmad Ganai S/O Muhammad Ismail Ganai was also seriously injured and is being treated a SKIMS.
However, a top police official said that bus was not overloaded. “It was carrying 46 passengers while its capacity is 54. The accident happened due to the dilapidated condition of the road. The 6-kilometer road stretch from Awoora to Langanbal is in shambles,” the official added.
He said after the accident people staged protest and demanded immediate repair of the road.
Official sources said a massive relief and rescue operation was carried out by the police, traffic department and other wings of the local administration with Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag Kifayat Hussain Rizvi supervising the operation. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was also pressed into service.
“Our team headed by Assistant Commander, Suresh Tapia carried out the rescue operation with the help of the locals,” said Inspector Pankaj Mishra, a team commander Of 7 Battalion with National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
Traffic on the Islamabad-Pahalgam road was also stopped by the police to shift the injured to various hospitals.
Meanwhile, as the injured were rushed to the district hospital, people of the town along with Civil Defence rushed to the spot and assisted the hospital staff. The locals along with police team also managed the traffic on the roads even as ambulances from different hospitals of the district were pressed into service to ferry the injured to the hospitals. Announcements were also made on the loud speakers asking the people with some rare blood groups to come forward and donate blood. Many locals, college students, traders and CRPF men donated blood in the district hospital.  Locals were also seen providing water and soft drinks to the attendants.
Chief Minster Omar Abdullah announced Rs 1 lakh relief to the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the accident. He also granted Rs 10,000 each to the injured in the accident.
Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon as Chairman of the Passenger Welfare Fund has announced ex-gratia relief of Rs. 25,000 per head to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 10,000 per head to those seriously injured and Rs 5,000 to other injured.
The committee comprises of IGP Traffic and RTO Kashmir as the members. In addition to this Div Com has also announced Rs. 5,000 relief for the injured out of Red Cross funds and Rs 10,000 to the NoK of deceased.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag has also announced Rs 10,000 for the NoK and Rs 5,000 for the seriously injured patients.

GUV, CM, MUFTIS GRIEVED
Governor NN Vohra has expressed grief over the loss of precious human lives in the tragic accident.
In a message, the Governor conveyed his sympathy to the bereaved families and prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured in this accident.
Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah expressed deep grief over the road accident.
On the advice of the Chief Minister, Minister of State for Health, Javid Ahmad Dar rushed to the spot and visited the hospital to oversee the treatment of the injured.
PDP patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and president Mehbooba Mufti expressed deep grief and shock at the accident and expressed solidarity with the families of the sufferers.
MLA Abdul Rehman Veeri and Muhammad Rafi Mir who were attending a conference organized by the party at Srinagar immediately rushed to the spot to take stock of the rescue and relief operations and later visited the injured at district hospital Anantnag, a party handout said.
Various other political leaders including DPN president and Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir, CPI (M) State Secretary MY Tarigami, NC leader and MP, Dr Mehboob Beg also expressed grief and sorrow over the tragic accident.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 30 Jul 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 30 Jul 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:00:00 IST