chamoli

8 people lose their lives in Chamoli road accident

In yet another major mishap on hill roads, a Jeep plunged into a deep gorge on the Chamoli-Laasi road, near Majothi, killing eight persons, including six school teachers, on Thursday afternoon. Besides, the condition of five others who were also in the vehicle was said to be critical. They have been brought to Dehradun for treatment.

Additional director general, administration, Ram Singh Meena said, “The vehicle fell into the deep gorge after one of its rear wheels came off.” He pointed out that the group heading home was in a celebratory mood as school are closing for the summer vacations from Friday. It took three hours for rescue teams to fish out all the bodies from the gorge.

The eight who died have been identified as Chandrakanta Kunwar, Anita Paletha, Rakesh Lal, Anusuya Aswal, Meena Kaniyal, Ranjana Lal, Anita Sendwal and Vimla Kunwar. The condition of five other passengers who were in the vehicle — Ranji Aswal, Mukesh Singh, Gopal Saxena, Vijaya Rawat and Sonu Singh — is critical. “The five were brought to Dehradun for treatment,” added the police officer.

Most of the passengers were teachers from different primary schools in Chamoli district. “They took this vehicle for commuting to school. The driver, Rakesh Lal, lost control of the vehicle as the one of the rear tyres came out and the vehicle fell into a deep gorge,” said Meena.

CM Harish Rawat expressed grief over the road mishap and instructed district authorities to ensure best possible medical attention to those injured and compensation to the family members of the deceased.

The accident come close on the heels of two major road mishaps in Uttarakhand on Wednesday in which nine people were killed in Almora district and five in Uttarkashi. The list of deceased included French national Martin Burno Georges.

Meanwhile, the toll in the road mishap at Uttarkashi has gone up to five. On Thursday morning, Delhi resident Rajeshwari Jha died during treatment at Doon Hospital in Dehradun. Her husband Devanand Jha had died on the spot. Their Jeep had fallen into a gorge on the Yamunotri route on Wednesday afternoon. Hukum Singh from Chamoli and Naveen Kumar from Uttarkashi district were also killed in the accident.

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