36 people have died when a bus they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a gorge in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.

According to DD News Jammu, the bus skidded off the road near Trungal – Assar on Batote-Kishtwar National Highway and fell 300 feet downhill. The vehicle was reportedly carrying over 50 people at the time of the incident.

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh informed on X that the Deputy Commissioner of Doda, Harvinder Singh had said that 36 persons had died and of the 19 injured, six persons were serious. Dr Singh also posted that the injured were shifted to Government Medical College, Doda and Government Medical College, Jammu. Helicopter services have been arranged for shifting the injured, he added.

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed their sadness over the unfortunate incident and offered condolences to the bereaved families.

PM Modi announced that an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) would be given to the next of kin of each deceased while Rs 50,000 would be given to the injured of the mishap in Doda.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah too expressed that he was “Deeply anguished to learn about the loss of precious lives due to a tragic bus accident at Doda, Jammu and Kashmir.” The local administration is conducting the rescue operation in the gorge where the bus had the accident, he informed, while extending condolences to the families of the deceased and prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured.