At least 11 students were killed and seven others injured when a Tempo they were travelling in crashed after plummeting around 500 feet down a gorge along the mountainous Mughal road in Shopian district Thursday afternoon.
The students of Kashish Computer Institute, a privatecentre, according to an official were on an excursion to Dobijan Shopian fromSurankote area of district Poonch when the accident took place.
A police official said the Tempo carrying 16 students, ateacher and a driver, skidded off the road near Lal Gulam, some 32 kms fromShopian town, and careened down a deep gorge.
Eleven students died even before they could be evacuated tohospital while seven others including the driver of the ill-fated vehiclesustained grave injuries, the official said.
He said the injured were shifted to district hospitalShopian where from they were sent to SMHS Srinagar, given the serious nature oftheir injuries.
A health official identified the injured persons as Jameel Ahmad son of Abdul Raheem of Surankote,Soniya daughter of Mohammaf Rafiq of Faisalabad, Tazeem Akhtar daughter ofAbdul Rasheed, Tabasum daughter of Bashir Ahmad, Aliya daughter of MushtaqAhmad of Surankote, Mehrun Nisa and Afsana Javid.
“We were on a picnic trip, travelling in two vehicles.As we reached near Lal Gulam, one of the vehicles carrying mostly the femalestudents fell into the gorge and crashed down”, said a disturbed Waheed,who runs the institute.
Immediately after the accident, a police team rushed to thespot and launched a rescue operation, another police official said.
He said that the injured were rushed to hospital fortreatment.
He identified the deceased as Tabasum daughter of M. Rafiq,Shreen Fatima daughter of Zaman Ahmad, Shabnum daughter of Hudayat Ahmad, Rabiadaughter of Mukhtar Ahmad, Suhail son of Zubair Ahmad, Nayeema daughter ofRiyaz Ahmad, Irfana Kousar, Humaira Kazmi, Rehmat, Jameel Ahmad and Najma.
This is the first accident along the traditional Mughal roadwhich involved so many casualties, the official said.