At least 11 students, including nine girls of a computer coaching institute, were killed and seven others were injured when the minibus they were travelling in fell into a deep gorge on Mughal road in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Thursday.

A police officer said a passenger vehicle ferrying students and teachers of the computer coaching institute, ‘Kashish’, from Surankote area of Poonch in Jammu to Dhobijan, Shopian met with an accident near Lal Ghulam along the Mughal road in Shopian district in the afternoon. The vehicle skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge.

While 11 students were killed, a teacher was among the seven injured in the incident. The injured were referred to Shopian hospital, from where six critically injured were referred to Srinagar hospitals for specialized treatment. As word of the incident got out, hospital, police and civil officials visited the spot to take stock of the situation.

Governor Satya Pal Malik expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident. In a condolence message, the Governor conveyed his sympathies to the bereaved families and prayed for peace to the departed souls, an official spokesman said.

He announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of the kin of the dead. The governor directed the administration to provide the best medical treatment to the injured and wished them a speedy recovery.
In a similar tragedy, over 40 people were recently killed as a bus rolled into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh.