July 14, 2003	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1424

NEW DELHI, July 13: At least 16 people were killed and 28 others injured when an overloaded passenger bus skidded off a road on Sunday in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

The accident took place in the Doda district, New Delhi Television reported.

The driver lost control of the bus at a sharp turn and it plunged into a deep gorge, the United News of India reported. A steady downpour had made the road slippery.

The UNI report said six of the injured were in critical condition. Meanwhile in another accident six Indian army soldiers were killed when the jeep they were travelling in fell off a cliff in occupied Kashmir, police said in Jammu.

The incident took place at around 8 pm (14:30 GMT) in Jamlan area of Udhampur district, a police spokesman said.

The men were on their way for an anti-militancy operation, the spokesman said.—dpa/AFP