Narrow Escape For Passengers After Bus Skids, Hangs Over Gorge In J&K

Over 30 passengers had a great escape when a bus skidded off a slippery, icy hill road and almost fell over a steep gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district on Monday, police said.

Locals helped rescue the passengers from the bus, which was wedged between two concrete parapets on the winding road.

In a scene that could be straight out of a film, half the vehicle was hanging over the gorge at Gatsu village on the Batote-Kishtwar highway in Jammu region, Bhadarwah Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Rajinder Singh said.

The bus was on its way to Jammu from Padder area of Kishtwar district when the accident took place in the morning, Mr Singh said.

The driver lost control of the vehicle due to frost on the road in the sub-zero temperatures, the ASP said, citing preliminary investigation reports.

The officer advised drivers to manoeuvre carefully as most of the roads in the district remain frozen during winter and become slippery.