At least six people were killed and 19 others sustained injuries, some of them critically, when a school bus they were travelling in skidded off the road and plunged into a deep gorge in Union territory of Ladakh on Thursday, officials said.
The ill-fated school bus carrying staff including two children, was on its way to Leh when the driver lost control over it while initiating a curve and rolled down into a deep gorge at Durbuk causing injuries to 25 persons.
Soon after the accident the Police, Army and local people launched a major rescue operation and shifted the injured to a nearby health facility where doctors declared six of them dead on arrival.
District Magistrate Leh Santosh Sukhadeva said an unfortunate incident happened when a bus of School Lamdon carrying around 25 passenger staff including two children met with an accident at Durbak.
“There have been six casualties and 19 others injured have been shifted to nearby hospitals for treatment”, he said.
The condition of several other injured persons is stated to be very critical who have been shifted to Sonam Nurboo Memorial (SNM) hospital and army hospital in Leh for treatment.
He said three helicopters were pressed into service, two from the Air Force and one from the Army to shift the injured to hospitals for treatment.
Sukhadeva said the bus carrying the staff had gone to attend the marriage party of one of the staffer at Durbak.
The police have registered a case to ascertain the cause of the accident.
