3 dead as boulders hit passenger bus, house in Doda

Jammu, Jul 20: Three persons were killed and six others injured after falling boulders struck a passenger bus and a house in two separate incidents in the hilly Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, officials said. In the first incident, a rock rolled down a hillock near Raggi Nallah along the Jammu-Kishtwar national highway around 9.30 am amid torrential rains, hitting a passenger bus, the officials said. They said a rescue operation was launched immediately, and seven injured persons were shifted to a nearby hospital, where one of them, identified as Manish Kumar, was declared brought dead. In addition, the body of an unidentified person was recovered from the damaged vehicle, the officials said, adding efforts are underway to establish the identity of the deceased. The officials said the highway remained blocked as a couple of private vehicles were also hit by boulders in the area. However, the occupants of the vehicles escaped unhurt. In another incident, a woman identified as Shiv Devi was killed after being hit by a shooting stone at her house in Kashtigarh area of the district, the officials said. The house also suffered damage in the incident, they said.