Overview
- A Monday crash near Khagote on the Ramnagar–Udhampur road killed at least 21 people and left more than 50 injured, according to officials.
- Police said the driver lost control on a blind hairpin, sending an overcrowded bus about 100 metres down a steep slope onto a lower road where it crushed an auto-rickshaw.
- An Army convoy on the route led the first rescue with locals, then police and SDRF teams pulled survivors from the wreck and took them to GMC Udhampur, with critical patients referred to GMC Jammu.
- Leaders announced cash relief as treatment continued, with the Prime Minister offering Rs 2 lakh to each bereaved family and Rs 50,000 to the injured, and the Chief Minister pledging additional payments from the UT fund.
- Officials are probing causes including overloading and treacherous hill curves, a pattern often blamed for deadly crashes on J&K’s mountain roads that could now draw tighter checks on passenger counts and driver fitness.