Uttarakhand accident: Five killed after car falls into gorge near Kainchi Dham in Nainital
Police personnel, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams and local residents immediately began a rescue operation after receiving information about the accident. However, officials said none of the passengers survived due to the severity of the crash and the difficult terrain.
As many as five persons were killed after a car plunged into a gorge near Kainchi Dham in Uttarakhand’s Nainital. The incident took place on Thursday in the Bhowali area. Four of the five deceased were family members. According to police officials, the vehicle was travelling on the Sanatorium-Ratighat bypass road when it reportedly lost control near Dhaila village and fell nearly 500 metres into the gorge. The family was on its way to the famous Kainchi Dham temple.
Police personnel, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams and local residents immediately began a rescue operation after receiving information about the accident. However, officials said none of the passengers survived due to the severity of the crash and the difficult terrain.
“Just an hour ago, we received information from the control room that a vehicle had met with an accident. Upon receiving this information, the police and the SDRF team rushed to the scene and launched a rescue operation. They found a Mahindra vehicle that had fallen about 300 to 400 meters deep into a ditch. The vehicle and its driver are from Lucknow, but the passengers on board were from Khatima,” DSP and CO Ravikant Semwal said.
“When they were successfully rescued and rushed to the hospital, doctors unfortunately declared all of them dead. There were five occupants in the vehicle. While the driver was initially unidentified, the remaining four family members have been identified as being 45, 59, 19, and 12 years old,” he added.
The deceased were identified as Bhupendra Singh Chuphal (48), Seema Kaida Chuphal (45), Vasu Chuphal (19), Ravi Chuphal (12), and the driver, Anuj Kumar Mishra (34).
Nainital Superintendent of Police (Crime) Jagdish Chandra said the accident took place when the vehicle went out of control on the bypass stretch. Senior Superintendent of Police Manjunath TC added that rescue efforts were challenging because of the steep and inaccessible location.
Locals flag lack of safety measures
Meanwhile, local residents alleged that the accident spot falls on a proposed bypass route for Kainchi Dham where construction work is currently underway. They claimed that safety measures along several parts of the road were insufficient.
CM Dhami expresses anguish
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed sorrow over the incident and directed the district administration to provide all necessary assistance. He also conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims.
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