4 killed, 16 injured as vehicle falls into gorge in Bengal's Darjeeling

Kolkata, Oct 22 (IANS) Four persons were killed and 16 others were severely injured on Wednesday after a vehicle packed with passengers fell into a gorge near Mirik in Darjeeling district in the northern region of West Bengal, an official said.

Confirming the death figure, Additional Superintendent (Kurseong), Abhishek Roy, of the four killed, three are residents of Nepal, and one is a resident of Naxalbari in Darjeeling district.

“The families of the deceased and injured persons have been contacted. The car involved in the accident has also been recovered. An investigation is underway to determine why the accident occurred,” he added.

The bodies of the deceased passengers have been sent for post-mortem purposes. The treatment of the 16 injured passengers is on at the nearby Naxalbari Hospital. The conditions of some of the injured persons are quite serious.

As claimed by the eyewitnesses, the vehicle carrying around 20 passengers had fallen into the gorge after the driver of the car lost control of the steering. While three passengers died on the spot, the fourth passenger died soon after he was shifted to the hospital.

The local residents began the initial rescue operation. Later, the cops from the local police station reached the spot and joined the locals in the rescue operations.

The condition of the roads in the place where the accident took place is quite bad.

Locals said that the road conditions in the area worsened after the recent flood and landslides that devastated the hills, Terai and Dooars regions in northern Bengal earlier this month. The repairing work for many of the damaged roads in the region is yet to be completed, the local residents said.

A passenger-laden vehicle was involved in a similar accident in Pankhabari, also in the Darjeeling district, last week. Two passengers died when the vehicle fell into a ditch.

--IANS

src/pgh