Champawat (Uttarakhand) [India], June 19 : At least two people died and three others were injured after a vehicle plunged nearly 200 metres into a deep gorge and caught fire near the Bapru-Bantoli road in the Barakot area in Uttarakhand's Champawat , officials said on Friday.
According to the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), information about the accident was received from the District Control Room that a vehicle had fallen into a deep gorge and caught fire near the Bapru-Bantoli road.
An SDRF team from Champawat, led by Sub-Inspector Dungar Singh, immediately rushed to the spot with necessary rescue equipment. On reaching the site, the team found the vehicle lying deep inside the gorge and engulfed in flames.
The SDRF team, in coordination with the district police, launched a rescue operation under challenging conditions and successfully reached the accident site.
Officials said a total of five people were travelling in the vehicle. The rescue team safely evacuated the injured occupants, identified as Neetu Devi (31), Akshita (8), and Aarav (5), and shifted them to a hospital for treatment.
The accident claimed the lives of the driver, Rajendra Kumar (47), a resident of Anjeda, Didihat, and Baldev Kumar (34), a resident of Nankodi, Anjeda, Didihat.
The bodies of the deceased were recovered and handed over to the district police for further legal proceedings.
Earlier on June 10, in a separate accident, four individuals lost their lives after their car plummeted into a deep gorge in the Jharipani area on Mussoorie Road. Upon receiving information about the incident, the police, the Fire Service, and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) immediately rushed to the spot and launched a joint rescue operation.
Acting on information received from the DCR, an SDRF team from Post Sahastradhara, led by Assistant Sub-Inspector Manoj Joshi, reached the accident site.
According to the SDRF, rescue and recovery operations are being carried out in extremely challenging terrain and steep slopes.