Fourteen tourists were killed and 12 injured when a tempo traveller skidded off the road and fell into Alaknanda river on the Badrinath National Highway here in Uttarakhand on Saturday, officials said.
The tourists were on their way to Chopta when the accident happened around 11.30am near Raitoli village. The vehicle carrying 26 people rolled down a 200-metre gorge and fell into the river, they said.
Ten people died on the spot while four succumbed later in hospitals, according to the district administration.
Two persons were declared dead at Rudraprayag district hospital while two were declared brought dead at AIIMS, Rishikesh. Three of the dead are yet to be identified, according to hospital authorities.
The driver of the tempo traveller, Karan Singh, is also among the dead. Victims of the accident were residents of Noida, Mathura, Jhansi of Uttar Pradesh, Haldwani of Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana.
Rescue and relief personnel had to navigate extremely adverse terrain to reach the badly mangled vehicle.
Senior officers, including district magistrate Saurabh Gaharwar, and superintendent of police Vishakha Ashok Bhadane monitored the rescue and relief operations carried out by the police and Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Force.
A woman was flung from the vehicle but was later rescued from the bushes around 80 metres off the road, the SDRF said.
On chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s instructions, seven persons seriously injured in the accident were taken to AIIMS, Rishikesh by a heli-ambulance while six others were admitted to the Rudraprayag district hospital, he said.
A health bulletin issued by AIIMS-Rishikesh said out of the seven injured brought to the hospital, two had died before reaching the facility. Trauma surgeon of AIIMS, Rishikesh, Dr Ruby Kataria said a team of doctors from the trauma department was treating the five other injured.
The injured have suffered deep injuries in many parts of their bodies and almost all of them are in critical condition, the doctor said.
