11 students killed in J&K’s Poonch after bus crashes into road divider

Srinagar: Eleven students, including nine girls, of a computer coaching institute died and seven others were injured Thursday when the minibus they were travelling in fell into a deep gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district, police said.

The vehicle, carrying students from the Poonch-based institute, fell into the gorge near Peer Ki Gali on the Mughal road connecting Bafliaz in Poonch to Shopian, a police official said.

He said 11 students, nine of them female, died in the accident while seven others were injured. The injured have been evacuated from the scene of the accident to Shopian hospital, police said.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of the kin of the deceased.

In a condolence message, the Governor has conveyed his sympathies to the bereaved families and prayed for peace to the departed souls, an official spokesman said. Malik has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of the kin of the deceased, the spokesman said.

The Governor directed the administration to provide best medical treatment to those injured in the accident and wished speedy recovery to them, he added.