20 dead, at least 16 injured as bus rolls down gorge in Ramban

Jammu, Oct 6: At least 20 people were killed and 16 injured after an “overcrowded” minibus fell into a deep gorge in Ramban district on Saturday.
Reports said that an overcrowded minibus (registration number JK19 1593) was going to Ramban from Banihal Saturday morning when the driver lost control over it near Kela Morh near Maroof and the vehicle rolled down the 200-ft-deep gorge.
According to officials, the critically injured passengers were airlifted from the accident site to Army hospital at Udhampur and two others to Jammu. The vehicle was on its way to Ramban town from Banihal when the accident occurred at around 9.55 am.
Deputy Commissioner, Ramban, Showkat Aijaz and Senior Superintendent of Police Anita Sharma reached the site to supervise the rescue operation and subsequently requisitioned choppers to airlift the critically injured persons.
Local volunteers launched a rescue operation soon after the accident and were shortly joined by the quick reaction teams of police and Army, officials said. A total of six victims were airlifted by Army’s Chetah and Cheetak helicopters, a private airliner and a state helicopter.
“The critically injured persons were airlifted to Army hospital at Udhampur and Government Medical College hospital Jammu for specialized treatment,” Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban range, Rafiq-ul-Hassan said and praised the rescuers for reaching the accident victims “in the shortest possible time”, thus saving many lives.
The deceased were identified as Mashqoor Ahmed Giri S/o Late Mohd Ayoub Giri R/o Bankoot Banihal, Mohd Shafi Rather S/o Gh Hussan Rather R/o Doligam Banihal, Sunil Singh S/o Rattan Singh R/o Digdool Ramban, Mohd Irfaan S/o Mohd Suliman R/o Panthyal Ramban, Manzoor Ahmed S/o Amdullah Bhat R/o Senabathi Gugrara Ukheral, Nayeem Ahmed S/o Mohd Yaseen Ganie R/o Maligam Ukheral, Rukshanda D/o Mohd Rafiq Wani R/o Chanjloo Banihal ,Farheen D/o Mohd Rafiq Wani R/o Chanjloo Banihal ,Rayaz Ahmed Khan S/o Ab Rasheed Khan R/o Tethar Banihal, Mohd Iqbal shah S/o Noor Din Shah R/o Chakka Rajgarh, Mohd Ramzan Wani S/o Momjau Wani R/o Doligam Banihal, Mustaq Ahmed Ganie S/o Mohd Ramzan Ganie R/o Doligam Balihal, Rashma D/o Ismail Gouger R/o Amkoot Banihal , Tanveer Ahmed Baigh S/o Mohd Afzal Baigh R/o Kaskoot Banihal, Kajal Devi D/o Tarith Singh R/o Marog Ramban, Ramtullah Rather S/o Ab Gani Rather R/o Tantarypora Banihal (Driver), Mudasir Ahmed Mir S/o Ab Jabber Mir R/o Bankoot Banihal, Mohd Yousef Kumar S/o Amdullah Kumar R/o Darshipor, Utkaranth Mangotra S/o Surash Mangotra R/o Udhampur and Unidentified Male