Punjab Newsline | Gurdaspur/Pathankot
A tragic road accident took place on Friday morning on the Gurdaspur-Pathankot National Highway near Dhariwal when a speeding tourist bus lost control and overturned. The bus was travelling from Amritsar to Jammu and was carrying mostly college students.
Soon after the bus overturned, three to four vehicles following behind also collided with each other, leading to further chaos on the highway.
According to reports, two college students died on the spot, while five other passengers sustained serious injuries. The injured were immediately rushed to a nearby Civil Hospital through ambulances, where treatment is currently underway. Some of the injured are said to be in critical condition.
Sources said that the students were studying at Global College in Amritsar.
After completing their examinations and with vacations beginning, the students were happily returning to their homes in Jammu when the accident occurred.
As soon as information about the mishap was received, local residents and police officials reached the spot and launched rescue operations. Due to the accident, long queues of vehicles were seen on the national highway and traffic movement remained completely disrupted for some time.
Police officer ASI Baljit Singh, who reached the scene, said that the damaged bus and other collided vehicles were removed from the road with the help of cranes to restore smooth traffic flow.
The families of the deceased students have been informed. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination, and police have started a detailed investigation into the incident. Authorities are also probing whether the bus was being driven above the speed limit at the time of the accident.
