NEW DELHI, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 Indian army troopers were killed and 10 others injured Thursday after a vehicle carrying them skidded off the mountainous road and fell into a gorge in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.
The accident took place at Khanni top along the Bhaderwah-Chamba interstate road in Doda district, about 252 km southeast of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Immediately after the accident, a joint rescue operation was launched by the army and police to retrieve the bodies and help the injured.
Reports said the bullet-proof vehicle carrying 20 personnel was headed towards a high altitude post when the driver lost control of it and plunged into a 200-feet-deep gorge.
Deadly road accidents are common in India, often due to overloading, bad conditions of roads and reckless driving.
India's federal minister of road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, revealed in December 2024 that road accidents claim approximately 178,000 lives each year in India, and around 60 percent of those fatalities occur among individuals aged 18 to 34 years.
Last year, over 480,000 road accidents were recorded in the country. ■
