Five of family killed as vehicle falls into gorge in JK's Kishtwar

Five members of a family, including two women, were killed on Wednesday when their vehicle skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir, a police official said.

The accident happened when the family was carrying the body of a baby from Jammu to their Bahadat village in Drabshalla for last rites, he said.

Near Paani Nallah, the driver of the private car lost control over the wheels, the official said.

The deceased were identified as Pawan Kumar (32), his wife Rekha Devi (26), Rita Devi (30), Kewal Krishan (37) and P Kumar (30).

Senior Congress leader and former minister G M Saroori expressed grief over the loss of lives and said the repeated road accidents in Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban and Udhampur districts must be a grave concern for the JK administration.

"It is a situation which demands immediate measures and attention of all of us, especially the officers of transport, traffic police, National Highway Authorities and Border Roads Organisation to put forward their departmental specific assignment of the causes responsible for causing accidents in these hilly districts, he said.