8 children killed after bus falls into gorge in Indian-controlled Kashmir

At least eight school children were killed and 12 others were injured Thursday when a skidded off the mountain road and fell into a deep gorge in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.

The accident took place at village Kandiwara-Kokernag in district Anantnag, around 80 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of India-controlled Kashmir.

"In a deadly road accident today late afternoon eight school children were killed and 12 others including driver of the bus were injured, some of them seriously, when a bus carrying them fell into a 250 feet gorge in Kandiwara-Kokernag," said a police spokesman.

Soon after the accident locals and policemen rushed to the spot to carry out rescue operation and retrieve bodies of children from the mangled vehicle.

The injured were immediately rushed to district hospital Anantnag, from where critically injured were referred to various hospitals in Srinagar.

According to officials, the ill-fated bus belonging to a privately-run school bearing registration number JK03-6929 was bringing children back to their homes from school, when it met the accident.

Police officials said preliminary investigations revealed the driver lost control of the vehicle, while negotiating the curve on the mountainous road.

Region's Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Governor N N Vohra have expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident. The local government announced a monetary relief of 1,841 U.S. dollars for every family that has lost member and 184 U.S. dollars for the every injured in the accident.

Deadly road accidents are common in this mountainous region often caused by overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving.

Last year at least 1,165 people were killed and 9,755 were injured in 6,709 road accidents in the region.