Four killed as tempo-traveller plunges into deep gorge in J&K

Jammu, March 11
Four people were killed and eight others injured on Tuesday in a road accident in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district.

The accident occurred when the vehicle skidded off the road and plunged into a gorge.

Officials said that the driver lost control of the tempo traveller, after which it skidded off the road and rolled down into a deep gorge.

The incident occurred when the vehicle was proceeding from Jammu to Bagankote.

"Four people died on the spot while eight others were injured in this accident. The injured were immediately shifted to the hospital by local volunteers and police. Police have registered a case in this accident," the officials said.

Over-speeding, road rage, over-loading and bad road conditions often result in deadly road accidents in hilly districts like Doda, Ramban, Reasi, Rajouri, Kishtwar and Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Traffic Department and the respective transport officers have been taking stringent action in road rage, over-loading, stunt and reckless driving cases by cancelling driving licences and registration of such vehicles used by such irresponsible drivers.

The Traffic department has also seized hundreds of motorcycles, scooties, cars and jeeps involved in stunt driving and other offences.

As a positive gesture, crash helmets are also distributed symbolically by the Traffic Department officials to those wearing inadequate headgear while driving motorcycles and other two-wheelers.

Filling stations throughout Jammu and Kashmir have strict instructions not to sell fuel to those two-wheeler drivers who come to filing stations without wearing crash helmets.

It is mandatory for both the driver and the pillion rider to wear crash helmets.

Regional transport officers of the Jammu division and the Kashmir Valley have publicised and cautioned parents with statutes of the rule book wherein parents of minors found driving a vehicle can be fined and also imprisoned for risking the lives of their children and others on the road.