An SUV in President Pranab Mukherjee’s cavalcade which was coming from Darjeeling to Bagdogra in North Bengal skidded off the road and fell about one hundred feet deep into a gorge leaving six of his security personnel injured, one of them seriously.
The accident took place on Friday morning at Sonada when the President’s convoy was passing through a clouded hilly terrain. All the six occupants of the vehicle had a providential escape as the third vehicle in the convoy skidded off the road and fell into the gorge.
The President was returning from Darjeeling after his four-day trip to the Queen of Hills. Mukherjee who was scheduled to catch a flight from Bagdogra to Delhi is safe.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was also coming behind immediately stopped at the accident site and took upon herself the rescue operations controlling the crowd, getting ropes thrown immediately at the victims trapped several feet below and encouraging the trapped personnel to “hold your nerves and come up slowly.”
The Chief Minister also contacted a worried President — whose vehicle had already moved ahead — over the phone and “assured him about the safety of his staff as he was very worried.”
The Chief Minister was also visiting Darjeeling where the two leaders attended some joint programmes.
Meanwhile, soon after the accident a worried Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up the President and enquired about his well being.
The Mamata Banerjee Government had earlier hosted a State reception in honour of the President at Chowrasta (Mall) in Darjeeling barely a year before Mukherjee’s
5-year-term comes to an end in 2017.
During the programme the Chief Minister not only broke traditions by addressing the President as “Dada” but also showered him with praises for the “decades of services he has rendered to the nation.”