An aged couple on board one of the two Muzaffarabad-bound buses got off at Panthachowk citing ill health.

There were 21 passengers when the buses were flagged off by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images] on Thursday. After the couple got down, the bus proceeded to the Kaman post on the Line of Control [Images] with 19 passengers.

Official sources, who had initially said three members of a family had got down after travelling barely 4 km from Srinagar [Images], clarified that the third person had actually got down to help the couple. He again boarded the bus.

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The sources identified the two as Bashir Hussain Shah Bukhari and his wife Zaibun Nisa of Pam road village in Surankote.

Shah complained of an eye problem and asked the bus crew to allow him to get down.

Earlier, 21 of the 29 passengers selected for the trip boarded the bus. Five of them were women.