CHANDIGARH: Two separate accidents in two States claimed eight lives and injured 14 people on Sunday morning. In Punjab, five members of a family, including two children, were killed in a collision while returning from a pilgrimage in Himachal Pradesh, while an infant and another person managed to survive.
Sources said that the family was returning from from Chintpurni in Himachal Pradesh when their car collided with a truck near Khatti village in Phagwara. The impact of the collision was so hard that it exploded the truck’s fuel tank.
The deceased are Vikas, wife Shikha, her sister Reena and sons Raghav and Manav. Reena’s husband Surinder Kumar and Vikas and Shikha’s infant daughter escaped with minor injuries.
Meanwhile police have registered a case against the absconding truck driver for causing death by negligence, rash driving and other sections of the IPC.
In the second incident, three tourists from Tamil Nadu died and 14 others were injured after the tempo traveler they were in, en route to Manali, fell into a gorge at Chhodal in Bilaspur district early Sunday.
The overcrowded tempo fell into the gorge after the driver lost control of the vehicle. Police said Jai Raman and Jagatri died instantly while one N. Kumar, succumbed to his injuries en route to hospital. The victims were identified as Jagriti (23), Jai Raman (53) and N Kumar (45), all from Madurai district in Tamil Nadu, said police.
Five of the 14 people who were taken to a hospital in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, will soon be shifted to Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh. All the injured, as well as the victims are said to have known each other, and were all from Madurai district.