In yet another major accident on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway, at least 10 passengers were killed when their SUV plunged into a 300 ft deep gorge in the early hours of Friday in Ramban area of Jammu and Kashmir.

The ill-fated vehicle was on its way to Srinagar when the accident took place near Battery Chashma in Ramban district at about 1.15 am, police said.

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Two of the deceased — driver Balwan Singh (47) of Amb Gharota in Jammu and Vipin Mukhiya of west Champaran in Bihar — have so far been identified, they said.

President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed grief over the loss of lives in the incident.

“The news of people getting killed after a vehicle fell into a gorge in the Ramban area on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway is very sad. I offer my condolences to the bereaved families,” Murmu said in a post in Hindi on ‘X’.

Police said rescue operations are continuing in the difficult terrain amidst heavy rain and 10 bodies have so far been shifted to the hospital.

Senior officials along with SHO Ramban, UT DRF team and civil Quick Reaction Team (QRT) Ramban reached the spot and started the rescue operation.

The highway stretch between Ramban and Banihal has recorded several deaths in numerous accidents ever since the road was widened into four lanes.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also expressed shock and grief over the loss of lives in the road accident. He issued instructions to the district administration and the divisional commissioner to render all assistance, as provided in rules, to the kin of victims.

Union minister Jitendra Singh spoke to Ramban Deputy Commissioner Baseer-ul-Haq. “The police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and civil QRT (quick response team) are at the spot. Rescue operation is going on. I am in constant touch,” he said.

Former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and several leaders of other political parties mourned the tragic accident.

Notably, a division bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, headed by Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh, had recently directed an expert committee to visit the accident prone spots for which the divisional commissioner, Jammu, shall take necessary steps and submit the report by April 22. The court was hearing a PIL on the large number of road accidents on the Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban stretch and the Mughal Road.

The division bench had expressed displeasure over the delay in the visit of the expert panel, constituted by the court vide its order dated December 17, 2023, to the vulnerable spots and submit its recommendations by the second week of February 2024.