Three people were killed and two left with serious injuries when the car that they were travelling in skidded off the road and plunged into a gorge on Lingti link road in Kaza subdivision of tribal Lahaul-Spiti district.
The deceased have been identified as driver Tashi Tsering, 57, a resident of Lalung village in Spite valley, Dharam Singh of Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand and a Nepalese national Lakshman Garthi, 43.
Devinder Rawat of Nepal and Raghubir Singh of Uttarkashi were also injured in the mishap and are undergoing treatment at a local hospital.
Sharing details, Kaza deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Rohit Mrigpuri said the cause of mishap took place late on Saturday and teams are probing the incident to ascertain the cause.
As per the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) data, a total of 207 people died this monsoon season so far, of which 81 were victims of road accidents.
Flash floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains in late June and July have taken a toll on road infrastructure across the state, rendering them unsafe for plying vehicles.
Eighty landslides and 53 flash flood incidents have been reported across the state since the onset of monsoon on June 24.
{{/usCountry}}Eighty landslides and 53 flash flood incidents have been reported across the state since the onset of monsoon on June 24.
{{/usCountry}}211 road closed
As on Sunday, 211 roads including the Chandigarh-Shimla highway remained closed in the state. The maximum 81 roads are blocked in Shimla, 50 in Kullu and 39 in Mandi districts.
The Chandigarh-Shimla highway, which is blocked near Parwanoo is unlikely to reopen on Sunday as a landslide continues at Chakki Mod. A landslide had earlier swept away a 100-m stretch of the highway and efforts to restore it for light traffic have yielded no result as of yet.
Losses mount to ₹6,687.8 cr
The losses due to natural disasters over the monsoon season have now mounted to ₹6,687.8 crore. The public works department is worst-hit with the losses due to damage to vital infrastructure — roads and bridges — pegged at ₹2,087.70 crore, whereas the Jal Shakti department has suffered losses amounting to ₹1,629.81 crore and the state electricity board ₹1,505.73 crore.