14 dead as vehicle falls into gorge in Uttarakhand

Bodies recovered after 11-hour-long operation; 2 injured

Fourteen people returning from a wedding, including five women and two children, died and two were injured when a vehicle fell into a deep gorge on the Sukhidhang-Dandaminar road in Uttarakhand's Champawat district, the police said on Tuesday.

Their bodies were recovered from the gorge after a nearly 11-hour-long rescue operation, Champawat Superintendent of Police (SP) Devendra Pincha said.

Five women, a four-year-old girl and a teenaged boy are among the dead, he said. The deceased also include a mother-daughter duo, the SP said. All of them died on the spot as the gorge was deep and the car was badly damaged in the accident on Monday night, he said. The two injured are being treated at hospitals in Tanakpur and Champawat, the SP said.

The authorities were informed about the accident around 3 a.m. on Tuesday, after which rescue teams were rushed to the spot, an official at the Champawat district disaster management office said.

The vehicle was returning from a wedding in Tanakpur to Danda Kaknai village when the accident occurred, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief at the loss of lives in the accident and announced an ex gratia of ₹2 lakh each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for the next of kin of those killed and ₹50,000 for the injured.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami condoled the deaths in the accident.