Panel set up to probe bus accident in Doda

Jammu, Nov 16 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir administration has setup a three-member panel to probe the circumstance leading to the bus accident in Doda district even as one more passenger succumbed to injuries, taking the death toll in the incident to 39, officials said Thursday.

The bus skidded off the road and rolled down into a 300-foot gorge in Doda district on Wednesday.

Twenty injured passengers were admitted to a hospital where one of them succumbed to injuries late Wednesday night.

Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar said a committee has been constituted to inquire into the circumstances leading to the accident near Assar in Doda district.

The committee shall inquire into the incident and furnish a detailed inquiry report to his office within a week, officer said.

The members of the committee are Dr Ravi Kumar Bharti, additional district magistrate (ADM), Doda, superintending engineer and assistant road transport officer.

Locals have blamed frequent accidents in the area to bad conditions of roads in the district coupled with rash driving and overloading of vehicles.