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Six killed as Gujarat family’s taxi falls into Chamba gorge
Heavy rain and lack of crash barriers blamed for pre-dawn tragedy near Kakira; four survivors, including two toddlers, rushed to Tanda medical college.
Six people, including five tourists from a single family residing in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, were killed and four others seriously injured when their Toyota Innova taxi plunged nearly 150 feet into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district early on Monday.
The accident occurred around 4am near Salodka Dhari on the Lahru–Tunnuhatti road in the Kakira area when the family was travelling from Dalhousie to Manali. There were 10 people on-board during the mishap.
According to police, preliminary probe suggest the vehicle went out of control during a spell of heavy rain and high-velocity winds.
The deceased were identified as Lalit Bhai Fatnani, his wife Mamta Ben, Priyank Kanhaiya Lal, his wife Kajul, and their son Diyansh, as well as the driver, Jaswant Kumar, a resident of Mandi.
Local residents assisted the police in the rescue operation to retrieve the victims from the steep terrain.
The four survivors, comprising two three-year-old children and their parents, were stabilised with first aid before being referred to the Tanda Medical College and Hospital for further treatment.
The impact of the fall was so intense that parts of the vehicles were scattered all around, police said, adding that they and the rescue teams had difficulty in evacuating the injured persons.
The stretch of road was in poor condition and prone to landslides, eyewitnesses said, adding it lacked crash barriers.
A case was registered under Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Sections 281, 125A, and 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for negligent driving and endangering life, said Chamba superintendent of police Vijay Kumar Saklani.
Expressing grief over the incident, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu directed the district administration to provide all possible assistance to the affected families and ensure the best possible treatment to the injured, a statement issued here said.
