Victims buried under cement bags loaded in truck
Rajasthan families were on way to Leh
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, June 8: In a tragic accident, nine persons of two families, belonging to Ajmer district in Rajasthan, including four minors were killed and another injured when a truck they were travelling in from Srinagar to Leh rolled down on the road due to over-speeding at Moon Land in Lama Yuru, about 116 kilometers from Leh, this afternoon.
The families from Rajasthan were heading towards Leh from Rajasthan to do the business of broom making and selling on the Leh roads but met with the tragic end even before they could reach the mountain locked region.
A child was the lone survivors in the accident, who too was struggling between life and death at Khaltsi Hospital. He was likely to be referred to Leh for specialized treatment.
Officials said truck No. 0171 JK13B loaded with cement bags was on way from Kashmir to Leh. As the labourers too planned to reach Leh from Srinagar, they tied-up with the truck driver, put some clothes above the cement bags and sat on the truck to reach Leh. Enroute, they had food on the truck.
The truck was over-speeding and went out of control of the driver around 1 pm. It turned turtle over the road and the persons travelling in it were buried under the cement bags. Eight of them died on spot while another was injured.
Local people reached the spot and shifted the victims to Khaltsi hospital, where eight of them were declared dead and one of the injured was admitted for treatment.
Driver and conductor of the truck, whose identity couldn’t be ascertained immediately but who belonged to Kashmir, managed to escape from the spot and hadn’t been arrested so far.
Officials said out of nine injured, five were adults and four others were children. All of them belonged to two families of Bilwara in Ajmer district of Rajasthan, who were heading for Leh for broom making and selling.
According to officials, the victims appeared to have died of suffocation after being buried under heavy cement bags than injuries. There were no major marks of injuries on the bodies of dead.
The truck was fully loaded with the cement bags and atop them, the driver had allowed nine persons to sit and travel in the vehicle from Srinagar to Leh in violation of rules and norms. Adding to it, the driver was over-speeding, leading to the tragedy and the casualties.
Officials said they were trying to get exact addresses of the victims. If their bodies are not claimed here by anyone, then they will be sent to their native place, they added. However, some of the relatives of the dead, whose telephone numbers could be traced from mobile telephones found at the site of accident, have been contacted and informed about the accident.
Nine persons killed in the accident have been identified as Nandu Devi wife of Raju Lal, Vinod Kumar son of Raju Lal, Pappu Ram son of Jamna Ji, Premi wife of Pappu Ram, Nanda son of Pappu Ram, Puran son of Pappu Ram and three children, whose identity is yet to be ascertained.
Raju Lal has been hospitalized.
Police have registered a case FIR No. 55/2019 under Sections 279, 338 and 304-A RPC for further investigations. The driver, however, remained untraced so far. Efforts were on to apprehend him.
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