DEHRADUN: Six members of a family were killed and a teenager injured after their Bolero veered off the road and plunged into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal district on Friday, officials said.
The accident occurred near a dumping zone at Sabdarkhal, close to Kunddhar in the Devprayag area, while the vehicle was travelling from Devprayag to Pauri. Local residents alerted the police soon after the crash.
The Bolero, bearing registration number UK08-BL-0387, reportedly had seven people on board. Five occupants died on the spot, while 14-year-old Aman, who was rescued in critical condition, later succumbed to his injuries.
The sole survivor, identified as 16-year-old Aram, son of Afzal and a resident of Raipur Jitpur in Haridwar district, was pulled out of the gorge and taken to the Base Hospital in Srinagar for treatment.
Following the alert, teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Devprayag Police and the local administration launched a joint search-and-rescue operation.
"Despite the deep gorge and extremely difficult terrain, our personnel immediately began the rescue operation using advanced equipment," SDRF Inspector Manjari Negi, who led the team from the Srinagar post, said.
Pauri Senior Superintendent of Police Sarvesh Panwar said police and SDRF personnel rushed to the accident site and retrieved the victims after a challenging rescue operation.
"The rescue teams worked under difficult geographical conditions to rescue the injured passenger and recover the bodies," an SDRF spokesperson said.
The deceased were identified as Afzal, 49, son of Akbar Sufi; Gufran, 34, son of Akbar; Sabbu, 40, wife of Afzal; Anamia, 3; Aman, 14; and Arman, 20. According to preliminary information, the four younger victims were members of Afzal's immediate family.
Police have launched an investigation to ascertain what caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The bodies were sent for post-mortem examination after being recovered from the gorge.
