3 die, 17 injured as vehicle falls into gorge in Kullu

Kullu: At least three people died and 17 others were injured when the tempo traveller they were travelling in fell into a gorge near Sojha on the Banjar-Jalori Jot road in Kullu district on Saturday evening.The deceased included two females and one male, all of them tourists.Banjar SDM Pankaj Kumar confirmed to TOI that three people had died in the accident."So far, three people are reported dead and seven of the injured are being referred to the hospital. Rescue operation is on," said Kumar.According to Banjar tehsildar Neeraj Sharma, there were a total of 20 people travelling in the tempo traveller when it fell into a gorge near Sojha, which is located at an altitude of around 2,600 metres.The police officers said the accident could have been caused by slippery road conditions due to rain and snow.It may be mentioned that higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh received snowfall on Saturday, creating slippery road conditions and making travelling highly risky.Hundreds of vehicles were stranded in the Atal Tunnel area on Saturday evening and the police had to launch a rescue operation to safely guide vehicles back to Manali.