Eight persons died when an overcrowded vehicle skidded off a road — apparently turned slippery by the season’s first snowfall in parts of the Valley — and fell into a deep gorge at Boniyar in Baramulla district on Wednesday.

Six persons were injured in the accident, leading to a wave of sorrow among local people, who rushed to the spot amid light snowfall to help in the rescue.

“Our area received its first snowfall today, which turned the road slippery. Because of that the vehicle skidded off the road, falling into a 300-feet-deep gorge,” Ashiq Bilal, former block development council chairman, told The Telegraph.

“So far, eight people are confirmed dead. The injured six, some of them critically, were shifted to hospitals.”

The local people said the vehicle was overcrowded, carrying 14 people against the permissible 10. Besides, the slippery road and other reasons could have also caused the mishap, they said.

The Valley’s higher reaches have received light snowfall at isolated places over the past few days since January 25.

Many higher areas received fresh snowfall on Wednesday, while rain lashed the plains. Srinagar and other major towns are expected to receive the first snowfall tonight.

Officials of the meteorological department’s Srinagar centre on Wednesday said there was a possibility of light to moderate rain and snow at many places in Jammu and Kashmir from January 31 to February 1. They further predicted heavy snowfall over a few higher reaches of north, northwest and south Kashmir.

The officials said a few lower reaches and plains of north, northwest and south Kashmir might receive snowfall depth of 6 to 8 inches, while plains of central Kashmir might receive 2 to 4 inches on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.