In a major road accident, at least seven people died and four received life-threatening injuries when a jeep they were travelling on slipped into a gorge in Bageshwar around 5 am on Monday. The ill-fated vehicle Tata Sumo (registration number-UA-02 TA-0597) was on its way from Haldwani to Bageshwar and met with an accident after it skidded off the road and fell about 100 m down near Sakar Pathan in Bageshwar’s Kafligair area, according to the Bageshwar district administration officials.
Of the eleven passengers travelling on the jeep, seven died on the spot and four were injured. They were rushed to the Bageshwar district hospital. later, three passengers were referred to Ranikhet, Almora and Haldwani hospitals as their conditions worsened. The fourth injured is being treated in the district hospital Bageshwar, added the officials. It is understood that as the driver lost control of the vehicle near Sakar Pathan, Kafligair, the jeep tumbled down in the gorge.
The Bageshwar district police and the district administration officials reached the spot immediately after being informed. Initially, the rescuers faced difficulties in retrieving the bodies from the area. Till the filing of the report the passengers’ identities could not be identified. But it is learnt that most of them are from Bageshwar district.