Jammu, Oct 22 (IANS) At least four passengers were injured on Thursday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district when a sleeper bus collided with a tempo.
Officials said four female passengers sustained minor injuries after a sleeper bus and a tempo collided at Garnai in the district.
The accident reportedly occurred around 7.30 a.m. The injured passengers were shifted to the Government Medical College (GMC), Udhampur, for medical treatment.
“Police have taken cognisance of the incident, and further investigation has been started,” officials said.
On Wednesday, two passengers were killed and 15 others injured when a bus veered off the road and rolled down into a gorge in Latti-Basantgarh tehsil in Udhampur district.
Officials said the accident happened after a bus went out of the driver’s control, skidded off the road and then dropped into a deep gorge in the district. The bus was on its way from Poichound to Ramnagar when the accident occurred at Gulli Gala at around 8 a.m. Officials said locals started a rescue operation immediately after the accident.
They shifted 17 passengers to a primary health centre in Basantgarh. After first aid, all the injured passengers were shifted to Ramnagar hospital, where a woman and a 6-year old girl succumbed to critical injuries.
Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah offered condolences to the bereaved families and ordered the officials to ensure the best medical treatment for the injured.
Road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) stem from a combination of human error, difficult topography, and infrastructure challenges, as documented by the Motor Vehicles Department and traffic authorities.
The primary causes of road accidents are exceeding speed limits, rash driving, sudden manoeuvres, and reckless driving on highways and sharp curves.
Overloading by passenger and commercial vehicles, particularly in hilly districts like Doda, Kishtwar, and Rajouri, can cause the vehicles to lose balance and fall into gorges.
J&K features steep gradients, narrow carriageways, sharp blind bends, and long hill stretches where a minor loss of control can turn fatal.
Rain, heavy snowfall, dense fog, and recurring landslides reduce visibility and make road surfaces dangerously slick.
’Black Spots’, Inadequate parapet walls, missing crash barriers, insufficient signage, poor lighting, and unaddressed potholes increase the severity of accidents.
–IANS
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