Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], August 21 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has expressed his condolences over the tragic bus accident in Samba, which claimed one life and left many injured. The bus was carrying pilgrims to Vaishno Devi.

The condolence message was posted on the official account of the Jammu and Kashmir CMO X handle. The tweet said, 'Chief Minister has expressed grief over the tragic bus accident in Samba carrying Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims, which has claimed one life and left many injured. He prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured and assured all possible assistance.'

Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday commented on the ongoing rescue operation in the cloudburst-hit Kishtwar region and said that it might be impossible to find anyone alive, stating that the disaster took place due to a cloudburst rather than a breach of glacial lakes.

'Finding the missing persons alive now looks nearly impossible. In these circumstances, we will try to retrieve as many bodies and hand them over to their loved ones. According to the information we have received so far, the disaster that happened in Kishtwar was due to a cloudburst and not a glacial lake breach,' Omar Abdullah told reporters.

The J-K CM stated that the government will now appoint a team of experts to identify other affected areas in the region and seek a report from them so that such incidents do not take place in the future.

'Now we have to appoint a team of experts to identify areas which might be in danger. A few months ago, the same thing was seen in Ramban, at that time the financial loss was more and the loss of life was less. This time the loss of life was more, but to avoid such a situation in future or if it arises, what steps can be taken by the government to reduce the loss, for this we will have to appoint some experts and ask for their report,' Abdullah said.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo confirmed that 61 people have lost their lives in the cloudburst and flash flood incident that occurred in the Kishtwar district, while 116 individuals have been rescued so far. (ANI)