- Suspected militants fired on a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir, killing nine and injuring 33.
- The bus lost control, causing it to plunge into a gorge in the Reasi district of Jammu.
- The Indian army and police are still searching for the attackers.
The driver lost control after the attack, causing the bus to plunge into a gorge in Reasi district of Jammu, officials said. While rescue operations have concluded, the Indian army and police are continuing their search operation to track down the attackers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took "stock of the situation" and requested the best medical care for the injured, officials said.
"All those behind this heinous act will be punished soon," Manoj Sinha, the region's top administrator, wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Mr. Sinha announced a compensation of 1 million rupees ($12,000; £9,400) for the next of kin of the deceased and 50,000 rupees for the injured. Suspected militants fired upon the bus while it was on its way to the base camp of the famous Hindu shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi. Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, Mohita Sharma, the district police chief, told Reuters that suspected militants had "ambushed the bus."
The Himalayan region of Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan for over six decades. Since 1947, the nuclear-armed neighbors have fought two wars over the Muslim-majority territory, which both claim in full but control in part. Since 1989, armed insurgents in Indian-administered Kashmir have fought against Delhi's rule, resulting in thousands of deaths.
Delhi accuses Islamabad of harboring militants and disrupting peace in the region, a charge Pakistan denies. The attack news broke as Mr. Modi took the oath as India's prime minister for the third consecutive term at a swearing-in ceremony in Delhi.
On Monday, the Jammu police released the names of the victims, including the driver of the bus, who are from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Two of the victims, aged two years and 14, are children. Some survivors spoke to ANI news agency about their ordeal. One of them reported that the driver had been shot and that the firing didn't stop even after the bus fell into the gorge.
Amit Shah, who served as home minister in Mr. Modi's previous government, expressed grief over the incident.
"The culprits of this dastardly attack will not be spared and will face the wrath of the law," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the main opposition party Congress, questioned the security situation in the region.
"This shameful incident is the true picture of the worrying security situation in Jammu and Kashmir," he wrote on X.
In 2017, militants killed seven Hindu pilgrims, six of them women, after their bus, returning from the famed Amarnath pilgrimage site in Anantnag district, got caught in a gun battle between police and militants.
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