Daijiworld Media Network - Dehradun

Dehradun, Dec 5: In a tragic accident in Uttarakhand’s Lohaghat region, five people lost their lives and another five sustained injuries when a wedding party’s vehicle plunged into a deep gorge in the early hours of Friday.

According to the District Disaster Control Room, the group was returning from wedding rituals in a Mahindra Bolero jeep when the vehicle reportedly lost control near Barakot on the National Highway and tumbled into a ravine near Bagdhar late Thursday night. The exact cause of the crash is under investigation.

Police and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams rushed to the site for rescue operations. SDRF Commandant Arpan Yaduwanshi described extracting the victims from the deep gorge as “extremely challenging,” but confirmed that all were eventually retrieved after sustained efforts.

The deceased have been identified as Prakash Chand Uniyal (40) of Subhashnagar, Rudrapur; Kewal Chandra Uniyal (35); Suresh Nautiyal (32); Bhavna Chaubey (28); and her six-year-old son, Priyanshu Chaubey.

The injured include driver Devidutt Pandey (38) of Seraghat, Almora; Dheeraj Uniyal (12) of Rudrapur; Rajesh Joshi (14) of Bankot, Gangolihat; Chetan Chaubey (5) of Delhi; and Bhaskar Panda of Seraghat, Gangolihat. The injured were admitted to Lohaghat Sub-District Hospital, with two patients reported in critical condition.

Authorities have launched a detailed investigation into the accident, and local officials are coordinating with rescue teams to provide support to the victims’ families.