3 killed, 10 injured in Himachal as SUV falls into gorge in Chamba

Shimla: Three devotees, including two women, from Punjab died while 10 others were injured when am SUV they were travelling in plunged into a deep gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district on Wednesday, police said.

The devotees were on their way to Manimahesh in Chamba when they met with the accident around 9 am on Wednesday near Bharmour on Bharmour-Bharmani Mata Temple road.

The deceased have been identified as Neha, Diksha and Laadi alias Santroop, all residents of Pathankot.

The SUV driver lost control of the vehicle and it plunged into a deep gorge, killing three persons on the spot, said the locals who witnessed the accident and tried to rescue the injured.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Chamba Abhishek Yadav said upon information about the accident, a police team reached the spot and rescued the injured as well as recovered the bodies from the gorge.

The injured were rushed to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Government Medical College, Chamba and are under treatment, the police said.

The injured persons have been identified as Aarti, Manav, Saurav, Rajesh, Vishal Kumar, Shikha, Rahul Kumar and Gaurav, all residents of Pathankot, and Ashish and Vivek Kumar, residents of Deoria and Bulandshahr districts respectively in Uttar Pradesh, they said.

The SP said further investigation is on in the matter.

The Manimahesh Kailash peak, located at an altitude of 18,547 feet about 26 km away from Bharmour, is believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva.

It is the fifth most important peak among the group of five separate peaks in Himalayas known as the "Panch Kailash" and is a major pilgrimage and trekking site, with the Manimahesh Lake at a height of 12,960 feet.