Srinagar/Jammu, March 26 – At least two people were killed, and five others were injured in separate road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.
A professor at the Poonch degree college, identified as Dr. Tabassum Naz, was killed and her husband was critically injured in an accident in the Kallar area of the Rajouri district.
The accident occurred when a car traveling from Rajouri to Poonch lost control and veered off the road.
Local residents rushed to the scene and conducted a rescue operation, immediately transporting the injured to a nearby medical facility. Dr. Tabassum Naz succumbed to her injuries during treatment, while her husband, Hameed, remains in critical condition.
Police have arrived at the scene and are investigating to determine the exact cause of the accident.
In another accident in Rail Gund, in the Ganderbal district, one person from the Kargil district in Ladakh was killed, and four others were injured. The injured included two tourists from Maharashtra and two from the Ladakh union territory.
The accident occurred due to a head-on collision between two vehicles.
Earlier, in January, at least ten soldiers were killed and 11 others were injured after an Army vehicle was involved in a serious road accident in the hilly Doda district. The vehicle skidded off the road at the Khanni top on the Bhaderwah-Chamba interstate road and plunged into a deep gorge.
The hilly districts of Poonch, Rajouri, Ramban, Doda, and Kishtwar are among those in Jammu and Kashmir where the highest number of road accidents occur due to the steep and winding roads.
Over-speeding, overloading, road rage, and unsafe roads are the main causes of road accidents in J&K. The traffic department has deployed special checking squads to enforce traffic rules.
Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) have issued detailed instructions and publicized them through the media, detailing the penalties for traffic rule violations. In cases of accidents due to overspeeding and other instances of reckless and negligent driving, authorities are canceling driving licenses and vehicle registration certificates, and even arresting parents and seizing vehicles when minors are found driving.