A Volvo bus (registration number AR20B-0962) operated by private travel agency Laxmi Holidays met with an accident late last night at Damtal on the Pathankot-Jalandhar highway under the jurisdiction of the Indora police station. The bus was travelling from Jammu to Dehradun.

Sixteen of the 57 passengers on board, most of them tourists, were injured in the accident, including three who sustained serious injuries. According to initial reports, the bus went out of control, veered off the road and overturned on the service lane. The impact caused several passengers to be thrown from their seats and fall on one another.

Police personnel and local residents rushed to the spot and launched relief and rescue operations. Among the injured were nine passengers from Jammu and Kashmir, three from Uttar Pradesh, two from Uttarakhand, and one each from Bihar and Nepal. Some of the passengers were returning from the Amarnath pilgrimage. All the injured were taken to the Civil Hospital in Indora. Two critically injured passengers were referred to Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College at Tanda in Kangra, while another critically injured passenger is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Pathankot.

Indora DSP Sanjiv Yadav said police personnel completed the rescue operation, shifted the injured to hospitals and restored traffic on the highway. He added that the accident site had been inspected and a case registered at the Indora police station. Further investigation was underway, he said.