Senior Congress Leader and MLA Inderwal, Ghulam Mohammad Saroori visited the road accident site at Drabshallah (Kishtwar) to took stock of tragic accident and to oversee operation of dead bodies following a tragic road accident. Saroori himself supervised the rescue operation to ensure dispatch of each dead body to their native places.It may be mentioned here that in a tragic accident in Kishtwar District, seven people died while five other sustain injuries when a Himachal Pradesh bound Tata Sumo bearing registration no. HP01C-3304 on way from Pangi (HP) to Jammu via Kishtwar meet with an accident near Drabshala some 25 KM from District Headquarter Kishtwar on Kishtwar-Jammu National Highway as a result of which the vehicle plunged into 500 meter deep gorge and landed on the bank of mighty river Chenab.
Saroori along with senior police officers from Kishtwar, members of Red Cross Kishtwar, beside locals from Drabshalla area rush to the spot and started rescue operation and recovered all the occupants from the accident site and shifted the dead and injured to nearby Thatri Hospital from where all the injured persons were shifted to District Hospital Doda. According to police five persons died on spot while two among 7 other injured persons died enroute to Hospital. Among the five injured presently undergoing treatment at District Hospital Doda, the condition of the two is said to be critical.
The injured informed the MLA Saroori and police that the driver of the ill fated vehicle lost his control over the vehicle while avoiding a big boulder that roll down from the adjacent hillock triggered due to heavy rainfall going on in the area since last two days.
Saroori feels that the tragedy could have been avoided in case the GREF authority responsible for maintain the Kishtwar-Jammu National Highway could have installed the crash barrier. He also blamed poor road condition for frequent road accident, beside illegal extraction of stone all along the National Highway causes triggering of shooting stones.The injured were identified as Tara Chand son of Shri Chand, Santosh son of Chuni Lal, Suman wife of Santosh all resident of Kellar HP, Raman Kumar son of Hardeep Singh resident of Kangra HP, Sher Singh son of Mansa Ram resident of Pangi and one unidentified lady. The deceased were identified as Rakesh Kumar 50 yrs (ASI in Himachal police) resident of Solan, Om Prakesh son of Rajmal (54 yrs) resident of Pangi, Payar Din (54 yrs) son of Jaan Mohamed resident of village Kuthie Chura Chamba, Prithi Raj (45 yrs) son of Narad Ram resident Tatri Sunari Chamba, Shala Devi wife of Tara Chand resident of Pangi, Pasoon son Payar Din and one unidentified dead body. All the dead bodies were kept inside the morchery of District Hospital Kishtwar from where all the dead bodies will be dispatched to Himachal Pradesh tomorrow.
Later he (Saroori) conveyed his sympathies with the bereaved family members, who were among the killed persons in the said accident.During his brief stay at Drabshalla Kishtwar, Mr. G. M. Saroori met inpiduals and various deputations to listen to their problems so that these could be solved. Mr. Saroori also held a meeting with the officers of Rattle Power Project Drabshallah Kishtwar. He said in Kishtwar and Doda also the educated youth are unable to get job opportunities. He warned the GVK/ L&T and other agencies engaged in the hydel power projects Rattle to give preference to the local youth of the area. Mr Saroori warned the company that if the 80 % share is not provided to the local youth by these companies, he will resort to agitation along with thousands of locals.