5 killed, 4 injured as Bolero falls into gorge in Himachal Pradesh

The driver of the Bolero car lost control of the wheels and fell into a gorge. Five passengers died on the spot and four were admitted in the hospital.

Mandi (Himachal Pradesh): Five persons died and four others were injured after the vehicle they were travelling in fell into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district on Thursday, officials said.

The mishap occurred last evening when all nine passengers were returning from Kamrung Temple in a Mahendra Bolero car. Five persons succumbed to their injuries on the spot and their bodies were recovered from the gorge late at night. Four other co-passengers were admitted at the Medical College Nerchowk in a seriously injured condition.

When the Bolero (HP 31 8349) reached near Kushala village in BSL police station area, the driver suddenly lost control of the wheels and fell into the gorge.

A team of BSL police led by DSP Sundernagar Dinesh Kumar, reached the spot on information. The team had a tough time spotting the bodies and retrieving them. With the help of local people, the injured passengers were rescued from the gorge and sent to hospital while the bodies were retrieved after a lot of effort, officials said.

The deceased included Lala Ram (50), Roop Lal (50), Sunil Kumar (36) and Gobind Ram (60) from Doldhar village, Sunil Kumar (36) from Panjrah village and Mohan (50) from Kushala village.

Among those who were injured in the accident included the car's driver Anil Dutt (51) from Kolthi village and passengers Sanjeev Kumar (38) from Panjrah village, Kirpa Ram (38) from Paudakothi village and Kamal Kumar (22) from Doladhar village.

After getting information about the accident, Vinod Kumar, MLA of Nachan Assembly Constituency visited the Medical College Nerchowk last night to inquire about the condition of the injured passengers. Kumar has expressed grief over the death of five passengers and assured to provide all possible assistance for the treatment of the injured.

DSP Kumar said a case has been registered and investigation is on. The reason behind the accident is yet to be ascertained, he said.