Kathmandu, Jan 3 (IANS): Five people died in traffic accidents involving two sport utility vehicles in far-western Nepal.

Four people, including a driver, were killed in Bajhang district after an SUV veered off the highway on Thursday.

"Three of them were killed on the spot and a five-year-old girl succumbed to her injuries while being taken to the hospital," Lokendra Singh Thagunna, a police inspector at the district police, said on Friday.

In a separate accident, a driver was killed after another SUV fell off a cliff in another place in the district.

Hundreds of people lose their lives in traffic accidents each year in Nepal.

Earlier on December 12, a sport utility vehicle ran off the highway in Nepal, resulting in the deaths of an infant and four others, Xinhua news agency reported.

The vehicle, which was carrying seven people, fell off the road in Jajarkot district at around 11pm local time.

It plunged down a cliff approximately 700 metres deep, according to Hari Ram Dangi, an inspector at the district police.

He told that a preliminary investigation suggested the vehicle had lost control due to brake failure, and the two injured individuals were receiving treatment at a hospital.

This incident marked the fourth fatal accident involving such vehicles in Nepal in between November and December, with a total of 26 people killed and 15 others injured in these accidents.

Earlier, on November 15, a sports utility vehicle had fallen off a highway in far-western Nepal, killing eight people and injuring five others.

The vehicle, carrying a total of 13 people, fell around 300 metres down a cliff at around 4 am local time in Darchula district.

"The car was carrying pilgrims who were returning after visiting the Mallikarjun temple in the district," said Chhatra Bahadur Rawat, spokesperson for the district police.

He told that several people injured in the accident remained in serious condition.