JAMMU, June 16 — Balwant Masih of Gurdaspur and Adhram of Batala in Punjab are among the 13 civilians who were killed when the private bus in which they were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar rolled down a deep slope near Nandni on the Srinagar-Jammu highway today.

More than 33 persons have been injured and all of them have been admitted to Jammu Medical College. The police said that seven bodies had been identified. They were of selection grade constable Nazir Ahmed of Anantnag, Lal Hussain of Rajouri, Balwant Masih of Gurdaspur, Adhram of Batala, Ms Salima of Qazigund and Subash Kapri of GREF, among others.

As the bus rolled down the slope, the police and civilians rushed to the spot and carried out rescue operations. Ten passengers died on the spot and three succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

It was the seventh major road accident between Jammu and Doda districts in recent days. During the past 45 days, 149 persons, including 28 Army men, were killed in seven road accidents in this belt. Most of the passenger buses and Tata Sumos have rolled down into the roaring Chenab in Doda district.

Earlier, 13 passengers were drowned when the vehicle in which they were travelling fell into the Chenab near Kishtwar. It was followed by 25 CRPF personnel getting wounded when the bus they had boarded met an accident near Batote.

In two major road accidents, 60 persons were killed and 66 were injured in Doda and near Gandhov. It was near Banihal that more than 28 Army men were killed and several wounded when the bus in which they were travelling rolled down a ravine.

Invariably, overloading of buses has been the main cause for the road accidents. Against the seating capacity of 42, more than 65 to 75 passengers are huddled into the buses. Some buses have been spotted carrying over a dozen passengers on the roof top. There is hardly any checking on the interior roads in mountain-locked Doda district.

Even on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, the alleged nexus between the traffic authorities and the transporters allows the latter to indulge in overloading even on long routes.