J&K bus accident: Family torn apart by tragedy

Kishtwar (J&K), Nov 16 (PTI) When Saksham and his younger brother Riksham left home with their mother on Wednesday to return to school in Jammu, no one in their family could have imagined it would be their last journey together.

While Saksham, 14, and his mother Ashu Devi died after their bus fell into a 300-ft-deep gorge in Doda, Riksham, 11, is fighting for his life in the district’s Government Medical College (GMC) Hospital.

The young boys’ father Ajay Parihar, an ex-serviceman and a Sena Medal awardee, is shattered and numb with shock.

Ajay’s elder brother said on Thursday that Saksham and Riksham had come home to attend his daughter’s wedding.

“After attending the wedding, they were returning to Jammu to appear for their exams,” he said.

The administration has left people to die, Ajay’s brother said angrily, complaining about the poor condition of roads, unchecked rash driving and overloading of vehicles.

“Had the administration fixed accountability, this accident would have not happened and we would have not lost our family members,” he added.

Another relative of the family, Suresh, said Ajay wanted his sons to join the Army.

Ajay wanted to give his sons the best education and they were studying in a premier institution in Jammu, according to the family’s relatives.

Scores of people gathered at Ajay’s house in the Beda-Bhata area of Kishtwar on Wednesday night after the news about the accident broke.

Saksham and his mother were among the 39 people killed when their bus, which was carrying 58 passengers, skidded off the road and rolled down into the gorge.

Twenty people were injured in the incident that took place near Trungal-Assar on the Batote-Kishtwar national highway.