Poonch, Sept 14: At least nine people were killed and 27 others were injured, 11 of them seriously, when an overloaded minibus they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a very deep gorge in Poonch district on Thursday.
Among those killed include two boys, one of them 5 and other 14 years old, besides three women, two of them teenagers.
Quoting official sources the news agency GNS reported that the accident occurred near Barari Ballah Sawjian when the driver of the bus (JK12-1419) apparently lost control over it. The Bus skidded off the road and rolled several hundred meters into the gorge, they said. Soon after the accident, locals, police and army rushed to the spot and launched a massive rescue operation. Nine people died on the spot or on the way to hospital, a police official told GNS.
At least 27 people were injured and were removed to nearby hospital, the official said. Condition of eleven of them is stated to be critical and they have been shifted to District Hospital Poonch, the official added.
The deceased have been identified as Maroof Ahmad (14), Bashir Ahmad (40), Rozsia Akhtar (18), Zarina Begum (40), Mohammad Hassan (65), Nazima Akhtar (20), Imran Ahmad (5), Abdul Karim (70) and Abdul Qayoom (40), all locals.
