Five persons of the same family, including a three-year-old child, met a painful death, while one person sustained grievous injuries after the SUV car they were travelling in plunged 250 metres into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand’s Pauri district on Friday, police said. The devastating incident unfolded on the Pauri-Devprayag motor road near Sabdarkhal, located in close proximity to Kunddhar, when the vehicle bound for Pauri from Devprayag reportedly lost control and veered off the road to fall into the steep gorge.
Police officials at the accident site
In the aftermath of the incident, locals rushed to the scene and informed the police immediately. Upon receipt of the information, a team from Devprayag Police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) launched a rescue operation. Pauri’s Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sarvesh Panwar said that rescue teams faced challenging conditions while reaching the wrecked vehicle, owing to the depth of the gorge and difficult terrain.
Sole survivor rescued, rushed to hospital
According to police, all the occupants had been travelling in a Bolero vehicle. When the SUV fell into the gorge, five occupants died on the spot, while the last one managed to survive. He was rescued from the gorge and was rushed to the Base Hospital in Uttarakhand’s Srinagar for treatment.
Representative image
The survivor has been identified as Armaan, a resident of Haridwar. Rescue personnel utilised specialised equipment to pull him back to safety before he was transported to the hospital. Meanwhile, the ones who met the ill-fate have been identified as Afzal (49), his wife Shabbo (40), their 3-year-old daughter, their 14-year-old son and Gufran (34). They were residents of Raipur Jeetpur area under Laksar Kotwali police station in Haridwar.
Bodies of victims recovered, probe underway
The cops, along with assistance from SDRF teams and locals, recovered the bodies of the deceased from the gorge and referred them to the hospital for autopsy. Officials in the know of the development said all necessary legal procedures are being completed before the bodies are handed over to their kin.
They added that the exact reason behind the accident is yet to be ascertained. According to a preliminary probe by the police, the driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to skid off the road and plunge into the steep gorge. However, police officials maintained that an in-depth probe is underway to determine the precise circumstances which led to the crash.