Even before the Vizagites could recover from the tragic news of a young couple from the city drowning in Kerala on Tuesday, another couple from the city fell into a 300-metre-gorge at Khardungla Pass, near Ladakh, in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.
The deceased were senior IAS officer T Dharma Rao of Madhya Pradesh cadre and his wife Vidya Rao.
Rao, a native of Visakhapatnam, was posted as commissioner of Madhya Pradesh Industrial Board. Recently, he and his wife, along with four friends, including two civil servants of Madhya Pradesh, went to Nubra valley. They were on the way to Leh when their vehicle skidded off the road when driver Karma Dorji attempted to avoid a boulder which fell on the road. The vehicle then fell into a 300-metre-deep gorge. Khardungla Pass is situated at 18,380 feet above the sea level.
Rao, his wife Vidya, Kumudh Singh (wife of Shivender Singh, CEO of Ujjain Development Authority) and driver Karma Dorji died on the spot. The three others including Shivender Singh, IGP Ashok Avasthi and his wife Manjari were severely injured.
