7 tourists, driver killed as vehicle falls into gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba
The victims, belonging to two tourist families from Karnataka and Chhattisgarh, were on a sightseeing trip when the vehicle met with the fatal accident.
Eight tourists, including two children and a driver, were killed after their vehicle plunged into a deep gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district, authorities said on Sunday.
The accident occurred near a sharp bend at Kalaban on the Sach Pass-Bairagarh route in the tribal Churah region of Chamba district. The victims included two tourist families from Bengaluru, Karnataka, and Chhattisgarh, who had travelled to Dalhousie for a holiday.
According to officials, a family from Bengaluru had hired a taxi in Dalhousie for sightseeing in the snow-clad mountains. They later shared the vehicle with another tourist family staying in the hill station. The group left on Friday for a trip along the Bairagarh-Killar route via Sach Pass.
Concern arose when the taxi failed to return to Dalhousie as scheduled. The vehicle owner tracked the taxi through GPS and found that it had remained stationary near Kalaban for an extended period. Fearing an accident, he alerted authorities.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the taxi, bearing registration number HP01C-2133, was travelling from Sach Pass towards Bairagarh on May 29 when it met with an accident near the sharp Kalaban bend and plunged into a deep gorge.
The incident was reported to Tissa Police Station on Saturday by officials at Bairagarh. Following the information, police personnel and local administration teams rushed to the spot and launched a search and rescue operation in the difficult mountainous terrain.
However, the accident proved fatal for all eight occupants of the vehicle.
The victims have been identified as driver Vishwas Salhota, son of Thomas, a resident of Jwala locality in Banikhet, and tourists Arvind Chandrakar, Prachi, Darsh, Akshad, PG Karthighayan, Manimala and Nandan from Karnataka and Chhattisgarh.
All the bodies have been sent to Medical College Chamba for post-mortem examination.
Police have registered a case and initiated an investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the accident.
Eight tourists, including two children and a driver, were killed after their vehicle plunged into a deep gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district, authorities said on Sunday.
The accident occurred near a sharp bend at Kalaban on the Sach Pass-Bairagarh route in the tribal Churah region of Chamba district. The victims included two tourist families from Bengaluru, Karnataka, and Chhattisgarh, who had travelled to Dalhousie for a holiday.
According to officials, a family from Bengaluru had hired a taxi in Dalhousie for sightseeing in the snow-clad mountains. They later shared the vehicle with another tourist family staying in the hill station. The group left on Friday for a trip along the Bairagarh-Killar route via Sach Pass.
Concern arose when the taxi failed to return to Dalhousie as scheduled. The vehicle owner tracked the taxi through GPS and found that it had remained stationary near Kalaban for an extended period. Fearing an accident, he alerted authorities.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the taxi, bearing registration number HP01C-2133, was travelling from Sach Pass towards Bairagarh on May 29 when it met with an accident near the sharp Kalaban bend and plunged into a deep gorge.
The incident was reported to Tissa Police Station on Saturday by officials at Bairagarh. Following the information, police personnel and local administration teams rushed to the spot and launched a search and rescue operation in the difficult mountainous terrain.
However, the accident proved fatal for all eight occupants of the vehicle.
The victims have been identified as driver Vishwas Salhota, son of Thomas, a resident of Jwala locality in Banikhet, and tourists Arvind Chandrakar, Prachi, Darsh, Akshad, PG Karthighayan, Manimala and Nandan from Karnataka and Chhattisgarh.
All the bodies have been sent to Medical College Chamba for post-mortem examination.
Police have registered a case and initiated an investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the accident.
