At least 36 Amarnath pilgrims suffer minor wounds in bus collision in J&K's Ramban
Ramban/Jammu (PTI): At least 36 Amarnath pilgrims suffered minor injuries when five buses slammed into each other in Ramban district on Saturday, officials said.
The buses were part of a convoy headed for Pahalgam base camp in south Kashmir from Jammu's Bhagwati Nagar.
The accident took place near Chanderkoot, along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, at around 8:00 am, officials said.
They said the collision occurred due to the failure of the brakes of one of the buses in the convoy.
"The last vehicle of the Pahalgam convoy lost control and hit stranded vehicles at the Chanderkot Langer site, damaging four vehicles and causing minor injuries to 36 Yatris," Ramban Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Alyas Khan said.
He said the government officials already present at the site rushed the injured to the Ramban district hospital.
Several senior police officers visited the hospital to monitor the treatment of the injured and directed the chief medical officer to ensure the best care.
"The Yatris were later shifted to other vehicles for their onward journey," the deputy commissioner said.
Ramban Medical Superintendent Sudarshan Singh Katoch said the pilgrims were discharged immediately after first aid.
The convoy left for its destination after the damaged buses were replaced, officials said.
The fourth batch of 6,979 pilgrims -- 5,196 men, 1,427 women, 24 children, 331 sadhus and sadhvis, and one transgender -- left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in two separate convoys between 3.30 am and 4.05 am.
While 4,226 pilgrims left in 161 vehicles for Nunwan base camp for the 48-kilometre traditional Pahalgam route, 2,753 pilgrims were headed for the shorter but steeper 14-kilometre Baltal route in 151 vehicles.
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Bridge collapse in Jammu: 3 bodies, 1 injured pulled out from rubble; probe ordered
Jammu (PTI): Rescue workers pulled out three bodies and an injured person from the debris of a partially collapsed old bridge during a 12-hour search operation on the outskirts of Jammu, officials said on Saturday.
One injured worker was rescued on Friday, shortly after a portion of the bridge collapsed in the Thuther area of Bantalab.
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary rushed to the spot at midnight and ordered the suspension of two engineers. The government has also constituted a committee to probe the incident.
According to the officials, labourers were carrying out retaining wall and foundation-laying work on the bridge, which was damaged in flash floods last year, when a portion of it gave way, trapping four of them.
Police, Army, National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, and fire and emergency department immediately launched a rescue operation. The rescue teams first pulled out a labourer, who was identified as Tarsem Lal, the officials said.
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"The search and rescue operation concluded this morning. Three bodies have been recovered from the spot. Two others have been rescued in injured condition," a senior officer told PTI.
The bodies were recovered during the 12-hour search operation, which went on through the night under floodlights, the officials said.
Among the two injured was Divisional Fire Officer, Fire and Emergency Services Department, Mohammad Jaffar, who was hit by a boulder during the rescue operation. The injured have been hospitalised.
Deputy Chief Minister Choudhary was briefed about the incident after he reached the spot at midnight.
"I have ordered the suspension of the assistant executive engineer and the junior engineer. I have also issued directions to the engineer-in-chief for attachment of the executive engineer," he told reporters at the spot.
Choudhary ordered a probe into the incident and directed the authorities to complete it in five days.
Following his order, Assistant Executive Engineer Sahil Verma and Junior Engineer Sajad Mir were placed under suspension, pending inquiry into their conduct, the officials said.
The government has also constituted a three-member inquiry committee headed by Purshotam Kumar, Secretary Technical (Engineer-in-Chief), Public Works (R&B) Department, they said.
Superintendent Engineer, Public Works (R&B), Circle Jammu South, Arit Gupta, and Executive Engineer, Public Works (R&B) Satwari division, Rajan Mengi are members of the panel, they said.
