5 Gujarat tourists among 6 dead as taxi falls into gorge in Chamba

Kullu: An SUV plunged nearly 150 feet into a gorge near Kakira in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district in the early hours of Monday, killing five tourists from Gujarat and the taxi driver.Police said the vehicle, on its way from Manali to Dalhousie, lost control on the rain-soaked and slippery stretch of the highway in Bhattiyat subdivision around 3:30 am. Heavy rainfall and poor visibility are suspected to have contributed to the accident. Police identified the deceased as Lalit Fatnani and his wife Mamta Fatnani, Priyank Kanhaiya Bhopani, his wife Kajal and their son Diyansh, all residents of Bhavnagar. The driver, Jaswant Kumar, hailed from Jogindernagar in Mandi district. Four others survived the crash with serious injuries. They are Mayank Fatnani, son of Lalit, his wife Koram Ben, their three-year-old son Jiyansh and three-year-old Priyanshi Bhopani, daughter of Priyank and Kajal. The injured were shifted from a nearby health facility to Dr Rajendra Prasad Govt Medical College and Hospital in Tanda for advanced treatment. On April 4, four tourists died and 17 others were injured when a tempo traveller they were travelling in fell into a gorge near Shojha in Banjar subdivision of Kullu district. MSID:: 131012626 413 |