30 killed, 15 injured in minibus accident in Poonch

Jammu, Apr 25 (UNI) At least 30 passengers, including six women and three children, were killed and 15 others injured when a overloaded minibus plunged into a rivulet in the bordering Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir today, official sources said.

The minibus carrying 45 passengers, was on its way from Surankote to Poonch, when it met with accident at 1145 hrs, sources said, adding that the troops of 27 Rashtriya Rifles immediately swung into rescue operation and fished out the bodies.

Nineteen bodies identified so far are --Mohammad Bashir, Fayyaz Ahmed Malik, Rehmat Bi, SPO Prakash Sharma, Canstable Abdul Rashid, Shakeel Ahmed, Mohammad Shaikh, Sunil Kumar, Azmat Bi, Khan Mohammad, Kamaladevi, Shehnaz Akhtar, Pulli, Praveen Bagum, Gulara Pazeer, Hasan Mohammad, Azad, Ghulam Ahmed and Azahar Ali Shah.

The condition of eight seriously injured was critical and were airlifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu, police said.

UNI