12 killed as pickup vehicle falls into gorge in Uttarakhand's Chamoli

DEHRADUN: Twelve people, including two women, were killed and five others injured after a pickup vehicle they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a 700m-deep gorge on Dumak Road in Palla Jakhol village of Chamoli district on Friday evening.

The deceased have been identified as Dilip Singh Chauhan, 52, Sitan Singh Chauhan, 61, Vikram Singh Rawat, 41, Subodh Singh, 27, Kashmira Devi, 42, Laxman Singh, 37, Tajwar Singh, 46, Radha Devi, 43, Gajendra Singh, 50, Ranjeet Singh, 70, Gabbar Singh, 70, and Shiv Singh, 60.

Second major road accident in state in a span of 45 days
All 17 passengers were locals, who were travelling from Joshimath to Kimana village, according to the officials of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), a team of which was involved in search and rescue operation till the time of filing this report. "The team members had to climb down to search the vehicle as it was not visible from the road head," said inspector Lalita Negi, spokesperson, SDRF.

To expedite the rescue operation, another SDRF team from Pandukeshwar had also been sent to the spot, said Manikant Mishra, SDRF commandant. The identification of victims will begin once the bodies are brought up to the road head and taken to the hospital for post-mortem, said a district official.

The incident is the second major road accident in the Himalayan state in a span of around 45 days. On October 4, as many as 32 people were killed after a bus carrying a marriage party fell into a gorge in Dhumakot area of Pauri Garhwal district. On February 22, fourteen people returning from a wedding, including five women and two children, were killed after their vehicle fell into a gorge in Sukhidhang-Dandaminar Road in Champawat district.


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