Ramban: Four persons died after huge rocks and landslides hit a moving truck and pushed it into a Nallah at Silad, Sherbiibi area of Banihal on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway in Ramban district early Tuesday morning.
Among the dead, driver and conductor were brothers while two others who were travelling in the truck were also brothers. Police said the truck (JK03J 0312) on its way to Srinagar from Jammu was hit by a massive landslide and boulders and pushed it into a gorge.
Four occupants of the truck including its driver died on the spot.
The officials said on getting information, Police and rescue teams rushed to the spot and retrieved the bodies trapped under rocks and landslide in the gorge and shifted them to Sub District Hospital Banihal for identification and other legal medico formalities.
Police identified the deceased as truck driver Muhammad Afzal Garoo, 42, his brother Altaf Garoo, 36, both sons of Aziz Garoo of Redwani, Kulgam, Irfan Ahmed, 33, and his brother Showkat Ahmad, 29, both sons of Abdul Hamid Bhat of Trail, Srigufwara, Anantnag, Kashmir.
Police said that after conducting postmortem and other legal formalities at Sub District Hospital, Banihal, the bodies of the deceased were handed over to the relatives for last rites.
Meanwhile, officials said that the bodies of people who died reached their residences in Kulgam and Anantnag.
They said that the highway remained blocked till the rescue operation to retrieve the bodies from the gorge was completed.
They said that the highway was restored around 10 am after the landslide was cleared.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ramban, Mussarat Islam expressed condolences to the bereaved families.
