SUV plunges into deep gorge near Nainital, 1 dead

Nainital: An SUV with three persons veered off and plunged into a 120m deep gorge near Pines area in Bhowali road on Monday, leaving one dead and two injured.Police said that preliminary investigation indicates that the accident may have occurred after the driver briefly dozed off at the wheels, and lost control of the vehicle. A probe has been initiated, police added.Rescue operations were carried out jointly by police, SDRF and fire service teams, who managed to extract all three occupants from the gorge. The injured were shifted to BD Pandey District Hospital in Nainital. During treatment, one of them, identified as Rahul Kumar (21), a resident of Haldwani, was declared dead by doctors.The two injured individuals were identified as Arvind Singh (24), a resident of Dantiwada Damiyawas in Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, and Yuvraj Singh (20), from Jalamand in Jodhpur. They are currently at hospital.Local residents expressed anger, alleging that the ambulance took nearly an hour to reach the accident site.According to officials, the incident was reported via Dial 112, following which the circle officer, along with the SHO of Tallital and a police team, rushed to the scene. Authorities have informed the family.