J&K govt orders departmental inquiry into Ramban mishap

Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday ordered a departmental inquiry into the cause of road accident in Ramban district yesterday in which 14 people were killed.

"A departmental inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident in Ramban district," Minister of State for Home Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo informed the Legislative Assembly. The DIG Traffic (Jammu) would conduct the probe, he said. The examination of documents of the vehicle showed it was having a valid fitness certificate, insurance and road permit. Thirteen people were killed and 34 injured, some of them seriously, when the mini-bus in which they were travailing plunged into a gorge in Ramban district. The vehicle was on its way to Ramban town from Banihal when it skidded off the road and rolled down into the 800-ft deep gorge at Battery Chashma, police said. A driver who stopped his vehicle to see the mini-bus falling into the gorge also slipped into the ravine and died, police said.