J&K: Four killed in landslide on Srinagar-Jammu national highway

File Photo/PTI

Four people were killed after a truck they were traveling in plunged into a deep gorge after being struck by a landslide along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway early Tuesday, according to police reports.

The incident occurred due to a landslide near Sherbibi in Ramban district at approximately 5 am, resulting in the suspension of vehicular movement on the highway, PTI reported.

The truck was en route from Jammu to Srinagar when the tragic event unfolded. Local volunteers and police swiftly initiated a rescue operation, successfully recovering all four bodies from the wreckage of the vehicle.

The deceased have been identified as Muhammad Afzal Garoo (42), the truck driver; Altaf Garoo (36), brother of Mohd Afzal Garoo, hailing from Kulgam district in southern part of Kashmir; Irfan Ahmed (33), a passenger; Showkat Ahmad (29), brother of Irfan Ahmed, both residents of Anantnag district.

Additionally, six cattle being transported in the truck for domestic use also perished in the accident.

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The incident has blocked the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, which serves as the only all-weather road connecting Kashmir to the rest of the world.

Officials said that efforts are on to make the highway traffic-worthy.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be on a day-long visit to Jammu on Tuesday where he will virtually inaugurate 90 projects of the BRO and attend the North Tech Symposium, an official said.

The infrastructure projects of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) include four airstrips and helipads that have been built along the northern and western borders, a defence spokesperson said.

After his arrival in Jammu in morning, Singh will fly to Samba to inaugurate the state-of-the-art 422.9 metre Devak bridge on the Bishnah-Kaulpur-Phulpur Road.

The bridge is a part of the 90 infrastructure projects built by BRO at a cost of Rs 2,941 crores, which includes 21 roads, 64 bridges, one tunnel, two airstrips, and two helipads, the official said.

It is of strategic importance to defence forces and will boost the socio-economic development of the region. Other projects will be inaugurated virtually, the spokesperson said.

The defence minister will later attend the ongoing North Tech Symposium at IIT Jammu's Jagti campus.

Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen M V Suchindra Kumar inaugurated the three-day symposium on Monday.