Kashmir Impulse Desk

Udhampur, April 20 

At least 21 people died and more than 40 were injured on Monday when an overcrowded passenger bus skidded off a mountain road and plunged down a steep slope in Udhampur, officials said.

The accident occurred near Kaghote in the Ramnagar area of Udhampur district at around 10 am after the driver lost control while negotiating a sharp bend, they said.

The bus veered off the road, rolled down a rocky hillside and struck an auto-rickshaw before landing upside down on a lower road, causing extensive damage. 

The force of the impact tore apart the roof and left the vehicle mangled, officials said.

Passengers in the auto-rickshaw were also injured.

Rescue operations were launched by an Army patrol that happened to be passing through the area and were later joined by Police, State Disaster Response Force personnel, and local residents.

Victims were evacuated to nearby health facilities, including the Community Health Centre in Ramnagar and Government Medical College in Udhampur.

Seventeen people died at the scene, while four others succumbed to their injuries in hospital, taking the death toll to 21, officials said.

Hospital authorities in Udhampur said 41 injured people and four bodies were brought in. Two critically injured patients were referred to Government Medical College in Jammu, while another was shifted to a military hospital in Udhampur. 

Dozens of others remain under treatment.

Rescue workers faced difficulties extracting victims from the wreckage due to the severely damaged condition of the bus and the rugged terrain, officials said.

Senior Police officials were present at the site overseeing the rescue efforts.