Seven ITBP personnel killed as bus falls into gorge in Jammu and Kashmir

The police bus carrying 39 ITBP personnel fell into a deep gorge between Chandanwari and Pahalgam

Rescue work underway after a bus carrying 39 ITBP personnel skidded off a road down to riverbed, near Chandanwari, in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, on August 16, 2022. | Photo Credit: PTI

Seven security personnel died on Tuesday after a bus carrying Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) men met with an accident near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag. 

The bus, which was carrying 39 ITBP troopers returning from Amarnath Yatra duty, fell in a river near the Chandanwari area of Pahalgam. The bus was on its way from Chandanwari to police control room in Srinagar.

The police said the injured were airlifted to Army Hospital in Srinagar for treatment. 

The deceased personnel were identified as Head Constable Dula Singh (Taran Taran, Punjab), Constable Abhiraj (Lakhisarai, Bihar), Constable Amit K. (Etah, UP), Constable D. Raj Shekhar (Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh), Constable Subhash C. Bairwal (Sikar, Rajasthan) Constable Dinesh Bohra (Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand) and Constable Sandeep Kumar ( Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir), according to the ITBP.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, Dr. Piyush Singla said medical teams have been put on high alert and 19 ambulances were earlier rushed to the spot. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah took to Twitter to express grief over the accident. He said, “My prayers and thoughts are with the bereaved families. The injured were rushed to the hospital. May they recover at the earliest.”

Rescue teams have reached the spot, officials said.

(With inputs from PTI)