Sirmaur, July 13
Three people, including a woman teacher, were killed and one person was seriously injured after a car plunged nearly 250 metres into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district on Sunday evening.
The accident occurred around 7.30 pm, about 100 metres from the Sarahan bus stand in Pachhad subdivision. According to police, the victims were travelling from Sarahan towards their home when the driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to veer off the road and fall into the deep gorge.
The deceased have been identified as Reena Sharma (48), a government school teacher and wife of Ram Lal from Dhargaon in Sarahan, Adhikari Jaitley (65), who was driving the car, and his wife Urmila Jaitley, who succumbed to her injuries during treatment at hospital.
The couple’s son, Yashasvi Jaitley, sustained serious injuries. After receiving primary treatment at Pachhad, he was referred to Dr Y.S. Parmar Government Medical College, Nahan, where he is undergoing treatment.
Local residents alerted the police and joined rescue teams in pulling the victims from the gorge before they were rushed to hospital.
Police have registered a case and launched an investigation. The exact cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained. The bodies will be handed over to the families after post-mortem examinations on Monday, following which the last rites will be performed at their native village.
The Pachhad administration has announced an immediate relief of ₹25,000 each for the families of the deceased and ₹5,000 for the injured survivor.
