38 killed in J&K bus mishap

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

At least 38 people were killed and 22 others injured, 10 of them seriously, when a bus rolled down in a gorge at village Dhamari near Resai in the Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir.

A helicopter was used to shift those seriously injured to the Udhampur district hospital.

The private bus left Resai for Arnas village in the hills on Tuesday morning but went off the road while negotiating a curve. Villagers rushed to the spot and rendered whatever first aid they could till the police teams arrived.

This is the worst road accident in the state to date. Just two weeks back 16 bus passengers died at the same place, a badly maintained patch of road.

Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen killed a local Doordarshan artiste at Nawakadal in Srinagar. The police said two men on a motorcycle fired on Tariq Ahmad Mahajan from a close range and fled. Mahajan succumbed at the Medical Institute. No group has claimed responsibility for the killing.