At least 10 Indian army personnel were killed and 10 others injured on Thursday after a military vehicle skidded off a mountainous road and fell into a deep gorge in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.

The accident occurred at Khanni Top along the Bhaderwah–Chamba interstate road in Doda district, around 252 kilometres southeast of Srinagar, the summer capital of the region.

According to officials, the bullet-proof vehicle was carrying 20 army personnel to a high-altitude post when the driver lost control, causing the vehicle to plunge nearly 200 feet into a gorge.

Following the incident, a joint rescue operation was immediately launched by the army and local police to retrieve the bodies and evacuate the injured, officials added.

Road accidents are frequent in India, particularly in hilly regions, often attributed to poor road conditions, overloading and reckless driving.

In December 2024, India’s federal minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, said road accidents claim around 178,000 lives annually in the country, with nearly 60 percent of fatalities involving people aged between 18 and 34 years. More than 480,000 road accidents were reported nationwide last year.