By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 22 Feb: The past 24 hours in Uttarakhand have been very tragic as 21 lives were lost during this period in six separate road accidents that happened across the state. The first accident happened early morning in Champawat, where 14 people died when a Max Jeep carrying a marriage party fell into a gorge. CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, PM Narendra Modi and Governor Gurmit Singh were among those who expressed their grief at this tragedy. Compensation of Rs 2 lakh, each, to the next of kin of the dead and Rs 50,000 to the injured has been announced.
In the Danda area of Champawat district on the Sukhidhang-Dandaminar road attached to the Tanakpur-Champawat highway, a vehicle returning from a marriage ceremony fell into a gorge on
Monday late last night, in which 14 people died. On receiving the information, the police reached the spot and launched a rescue operation. By 4.20 p.m. all the bodies of the dead were retrieved. Two seriously injured people were admitted to nearby hospital and are reported to be under treatment. According to the information available, 14 out of 16 people died on the spot. The seriously injured driver and another person have been brought to the district hospital for treatment.
All the people in the vehicle were returning home after attending a wedding held at Panchmukhi Dharamshala in Tanakpur. It is reported that at around 3.20 p.m., last night, the vehicle fell into a deep gorge after going out of control.
Everyone had gone to attend the marriage of Manoj Singh, son of Laxman Singh, a resident of Kakanai. Most of the deceased are said to be relatives of Laxman Singh. The condition of the driver is reported to be serious. The deceased belonged to Danda and Kathoti villages of Kakanai. The cause of the accident is not yet known, but the accident is believed to be due to overloading. However, the police are probing the matter. District Magistrate Vineet Tomar stated that, with the help of rescue teams, SDRF, administration and local citizens, the bodies of 14 people had been recovered. Two injured persons were sent to Tanakpur Hospital for treatment.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami offered his condolence to the families of the deceased via Twitter and disclosed that the local administration was involved in relief work. Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to express his grief over loss of lives. He tweeted that the accident in Champawat, Uttarakhand, was heart-breaking and expressed his condolences to the families of those who had died in this accident. The local administration was engaged in relief and rescue work, he added in his tweet.
An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh, each, from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) to the kin of those who lost their lives has been announced. In addition, an amount Rs 50,00, each, was announced as relief for those injured in the accident by the Prime Minister’s Office.
The second accident happened in Rishikesh’s Muni Ki Reti. A car plunged off the road near Brahmapuri on the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway in Munikireti police station area. Two occupants of the car died on the spot in the accident, while two others were seriously injured. The injured are undergoing treatment at AIIMS Rishikesh. Muni ki Reti police station Inspector Ritesh Shah said that at around 11:30 a.m., on Tuesday, the police received information about the accident near Brahmapuri. The SDRF and police teams reached the spot. The SDRF launched a rescue operation. SDRF jawans pulled the dead and injured out of the ditch. Police Inspector Ritesh Shah said that four people were in the car. Ramdayal and Sanjay Sajwan died on the spot.
In the third accident, three teachers were killed when their vehicle fell into a gorge in Kotdwar in Pauri district. The teachers were going to school in the vehicle when the accident happened.
In the fourth accident, in Bhimtal, Nainital, a car containing tourists from Delhi fell into a ditch on the road. Five people were injured in this accident. The fifth accident happened in Laxmanpuri, Mussoorie, where a car carrying two tourists from Delhi fell downhill and they were seriously injured. The sixth accident happened in Bajpur of Udham Singh Nagar. Here, a father and son died in a road accident.
