Jammu, July 16 -- Seven people, including a woman and a minor girl, were killed and 17 were injured when an overloaded passenger vehicle veered off a hilly road and plunged into a deep gorge in Doda district on Tuesday, officials said.

The accident took place on the Doda-Bharth road near Ponda, some 30 kms from Doda town, when the driver of a tempo traveller lost control while negotiating a blind curve around 9 am, they said.

Mohammad Ashraf (35), Mangta Wani (51), Atta Mohamed (33), Talib Hussain (35), and Rafeeqa Begum (60) were declared brought dead at Government Medical College Hospital, Doda, while five-year-old Uzma Jan and Shakur Din (30) succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Jammu, the officials said.

Seventeen persons were sh...