M A I N   N E W S

30 jawans killed in bus mishap
30 hurt in another accident
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, June 11 — At least 30 Army men were killed and 22 were injured when a State Roadways Transport Corporation bus, in which they were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar, rolled down a deep nullah near Banihal today.

The police confirmed the death of 27 soldiers. It said that 25 Army men were injured.

However, eyewitness accounts said that 37 jawans were killed on the spot when the bus rolled down a 300-ft deep slope and crashed into a nullah. Three jawans succumbed to their injuries on their way to the hospital.

The police and Army authorities swung into action and with the help of civilians rescued 23 injured soldiers who were evacuated to the Military Hospital. It took the police and Army more than two hours to pull out the bodies from the damaged bus. Some of the Army men had been thrown out of the bus when it rolled down the slopes.

The bodies were taken to Banihal hospital. Those with minor injuries were admitted to Banihal hospital and the critically injured to Military Hospital.

On June 5, 27 civilians were killed when a passenger bus rolled down a slope near Gandhov in Doda district. The driver of the bus, which had been overloaded, had failed to negotiate the road curve and lost control of the vehicle.

Initial reports said that the driver of the bus also lost control of the steering which led to the skidding of the bus.

In another accident, at least 30 passengers were wounded, one of them critically, when a bus, carrying them from Rajouri to Jammu, skidded down a slope near Rajouri today.

The police said that one passenger who suffered serious injuries was brought to Jammu Medical Hospital.

According to the police, the driver of the bus lost control of the steering and the bus rolled a few feet down the slope. Civilians and the police rushed to the spot and carried out the rescue operations. Those injured were brought to the Rajouri Civil Hospital.