Three members of a family were killed and four others sustained grievous injuries after a vehicle they were on board met an accident on a link road connecting Ramban with neighbouring Doda district.
According to sources the vehicle which was on its way from Kastigarh to Kumait, plunged into a deep gorge at village Chellaie Chuchattar near Rajgarh here late Tuesday evening.
Police said the vehicle, Mahindra TaTa (load carrier) bearing registration JK06A-6728 went out of control of its driver and plunged several hundred feet down a gorge near Rajgarh resulting in on the spot death of three members of a family while four others were injured.
A police team from Kastigarh Police Post along with locals rushed to the spot for rescue operation. “After hectic efforts, the bodies were retrieved and the injured persons rescued from the gorge. They were shifted to District Hospital Doda,” police said.
Police identified the deceased as Jaswant Singh and his wife Nirmala Devi, their son Mukesh Singh, all residents of Pasharna area of Doda. The injured are: Romesh Singh of Kalan Kastigarh, Nirmal Singh of village Shanru Bhalla, Sandeep Kumar and Ishwar Dass of village Kumait tehsil Rajgah of Ramban.
After conducting post-mortem and other legal medico formalities, the bodies were handed over to the relatives for last rites Wednesday afternoon.
All the injured persons are out of danger, a doctor at District Hospital Doda said.
Injured Iswhar Dass informed Greater Kashmir that the driver of the vehicle fled away from the spot after the accident.
A case under relevant sections of law was registered at Police Station Doda.