Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand): Nearly three persons were killed after a car and a pickup van fell into a ditch at Hokra village in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh within a gap of five hours on Tuesday morning. The accident has occurred at the same spot where 10 people died after an SUV skidded off the road and fell into the same ditch six days ago.
A Maruti Suzuki Alto fell into the ditch early this morning in Hokra under Nachani police station. Two passengers, who were travelling in the car succumbed to their injuries. Both deceased were residents of Bageshwar. After getting information about the accident, the local administration launched a rescue operation. The deceased were pulled out from the ditch with the help of locals.
Earlier, late last night a pickup van had fallen into the ditch. The driver of the vehicle had died in the accident. According to the police, the pickup van had lost control and rammed near Ghat Delhi Band. It had then fell into the ditch. The rescue operation was carried out by the revenue team, Ghat police post and Tehsildar Pithoragarh for almost four hours.
According to the police, the pickup van was coming with a courier from Haldwani to Pithoragarh and it is being suspected that the accident was caused after the driver dozed off. The deceased driver has been identified as Manoj Kumar Joshi, resident of Champawat.
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Six days back, all 10 people travelling in an SUV were killed after the vehicle fell into the ditch in Hokra village in Pithoragarh. It was learnt that the road was slippery due to incessant rainfall and the driver lost control over the vehicle. Among the deceased included a newly married couple who were going to visit the temple in Bageshwar district.