Army officer among 21 killed in separate road accidents

Identifying the army officer as Major Vishal Gaurav of 54 Rashtriya Rifles,he said that the casualty occurred when an army’s Tata Sumo was hit by a civil tipper at Bhalsama,nearly 8 kms from Sunderbani,around 6.45 am. Three others traveling in the same vehicle were also injured and two of the critically injured – Signalman V K Sharma of Corps of Signals and Sepoy Antony Swamy of 27 MADRAS, have been evacuated to Command Hospital at Udhampur.

The second accident involving death of five army jawans took place at Hujanwali in Rajouri district when an army vehicle enroute to Surankote for collection of stores fell down a hill around 8.15 am. Six others sustained injuries and they have been undergoing treatment at Army hospital in Rajouri.

The deceased have been identified as Riflemen Parminder Kumar Sharma and Rakesh Gulia,both of 306 Field Regiment,S K Singh of Signals,Dinesh Singh of 13 Rajputana Rifles,and B Venakat Rao of 201 Engineer Regiment.

Meanwhile,15 people were killed and 59 others injured when a bus rolled down into a gorge at Bidda near Reasi this morning. The bus was on way to Mahore from Reasi. Nearly half a dozen critically injured passengers have been shifted to Government Medical College Hospital at Jammu.