Four dead, 5 injured as van falls into gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar

JAMMU: Four people died and five were injured after their van plunged into a gorge in Sarthal area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on Wednesday. This is the second fatal road tragedy in the last 24 hours in the Union Territory after 16 people, including three children and five women, lost their lives in a similar accident in Doda district on Tuesday afternoon.
The van was ferrying passengers from Kishtwar to Sarthal when the accident took place at Mandir Morh area in the afternoon.“Four people died on the spot while five others were injured, three of them critically,” said a source.
Police and locals launched a rescue operation, monitored by Kishtwar additional commissioner (revenue) Amir Hussain, following which the injured were initially rushed to the district hospital in Kishtwar. From there, the three critically injured were referred to the Jammu Government Medical College and Hospital.
“Two of the critically injured were airlifted while the third was shifted to Jammu in an ambulance,” said Kishtwar deputy commissioner (DC) Angrez Singh Rana, adding that the district administration provided an immediate relief of Rs 10,000 each to the families of the deceased and Rs 5,000 each to those injured from the District Red Cross Fund.