New Delhi, May 4: The Congress on Sunday expressed sorrow at the deaths of three army personnel who were killed when their vehicle plunged into a gorge in Jammu and Kashmir and urged the authorities to implement immediate safety measures.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X, “Extremely pained to hear about the terrible tragedy in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban, where three Indian Army soldiers have lost their lives due to a vehicle accident.” “We salute their selfless service to the nation. Our heartfelt condolences to the families of our bravehearts,” he added.
Three Indian Army personnel were killed when their vehicle skidded off the road and plunged into a 700-feet deep gorge in Ramban district on Sunday, officials said.
Kharge said, “Given that a similar fatal incident, involving civilians, occurred in the same gorge in March this year, we strongly urge the authorities to implement appropriate and adequate safety measures immediately to prevent future accidents.” Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi paid tribute to the soldiers and expressed his deepest condolences to the bereaved families.
The news of the death of many of our soldiers due to the accident of an army van in Ramban, Jammu and Kashmir, is extremely saddening, he said in a Facebook post.
The army truck was part of a convoy moving from Jammu to Srinagar along National Highway 44 when the accident occurred around 11.30 am, the officials said.
They said a joint rescue operation was launched by the army, police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local volunteers. Three soldiers travelling in the vehicle were found dead on the spot.
The victims were identified as sepoys Amit Kumar, Sujeet Kumar and Man Bahadur and their bodies are being retrieved, the officials said and added the crash reduced the vehicle into a mangled heap of metal.
