6 killed after vehicle falls into gorge in Uttarkashi

Six people were killed after the utility vehicle they were travelling in from Barkot to Molda village fell into a 200-metre-deep gorge on the Ponti-Molda road, about 100km from Uttarkashi city, on Wednesday night.

Uttarkashi superintendent of police (SP) Dadanpal said, “Prima facie it appears the driver lost control over the vehicle and it skidded off the road and fell into the gorge. Further investigation will, however, reveal whether the driver was over-speeding or some technical glitch caused accident.”

The deceased have been identified as Jagat Singh, Lokendra Singh, Sardar Singh and Shurveer Singh — all residents of Barkot in Uttarkashi, while Surendra Bhatt and Dinesh Chandra were from Faridabad in Haryana.

According to police officials, four bodies were handed over to the victims’ families after post-mortem on Thursday morning, while the bodies of two Haryana residents had been kept at the hospital mortuary in Barkot.