11 killed as vehicle falls into river in J&K, 5-yr-old child only survivor

A vehicle carrying pilgrims to a temple, skidded off the road and fell into the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district, killing 11 people with a five-year-old child being the only survivor, police said.

The incident took place when they were going to the Mata Machail temple in the district.

"A vehicle carrying pilgrims to the Machail Mata temple rolled down and fell into the Chenab river, around 28 km from Kishtwar, in the Padder belt area today," Jammu and Kashmir DGP S P Vaid told PTI.

During the rescue operation 11 bodies were recovered. The only survivor is a five-year-old child, he said, adding that the child is undergoing treatment at a hospital.

The description of the vehicle and the gender of the child are yet to be known.

This is the second major accident in Kishtwar district in the past 24 hours.

Yesterday, seven people, including a policeman, were killed and 12 others injured after two vehicles came under a landslide in the district.

The incident took place at Kulligad on the Doda-Kishtwar road.

Huge boulders and debris suddenly came down from a hill burying a mini-bus and a car plying on the Doda-Kishtwar road, Senior Superintendent of Police Rajinder Kumar Gupta had said.