A tragic accident occurred near Battal Ballian on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway when a tempo traveller lost control and overturned. The crash resulted in four people being injured, with one person succumbing to their injuries at the Government Medical College (GMC) Udhampur. The local police have registered a T case, and further investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident. The 250 km long Jammu-Srinagar national highway was reopened for traffic on Wednesday, after a gap of nearly a fortnight.
The highway, which is the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, had remained closed since August 26 due to multiple blockages caused by heavy rains, flash floods and landslides. It was briefly reopened on August 30, but closed again. In total, the highway had remained blocked for 14 days. The closure of highways and other inter-regional roads to Kashmir resulted in over 4,000 vehicles getting stranded at various places in Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Udhampur, Ramban, the Kashmir Valley, and Punjab. The recent floods and landslides have damaged nearly 12,000 kilometres of road in Jammu and Kashmir.