7 dead, 21 injured as school bus veers off road in eastern Ladakh

At least seven passengers were killed and 21 others injured when a school bus veered off the road and fell into a 200-feet-deep gorge in Ladakh’s Leh district on Thursday morning, officials said.
District commissioner of Leh district, Santosh Sukhadeve, said, “The school bus was ferrying staff members and some children to a wedding function when it fell into a deep gorge in Durbuk area in eastern Ladakh around 11 am.”
“There were a total of 28 people, including the driver, on board the bus. While six people died on the spot, one died at the hospital. The remaining 21 others are being treated at SNM Hospital in Leh,” said the DC.
He informed that a critically injured child is being evacuated to Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh.
“Soon after the mishap, we made a request to the army and IAF. They immediately swung into action and a total of 14 helicopters-nine of Army Aviation and five of IAF were pressed into service to airlift the injured,” Sukhadeve added.
The DC said that prima-facie a technical glitch, probably brake failure, appeared the reason behind the fatal accident.
“The road had a steep descent, the bus was moving downwards and probably brake failure caused the accident,” he said.
The dead and injured were all locals from Leh district.