Five tourists hailing from Maharashtra and the driver of their vehicle died in a road accident that occurred in the North district of Sikkim on Saturday evening.

The deceased have been identified as Suresh Punamiya, Toral Punamiya, Devanshi Punamiya, Hiral Punamiya and Jayam Parmar and cab driver Sami Biswakarma.

Sources said that residents of Khidum, a hamlet in the North district under Chungthang police station, spotted the wreckage of a vehicle around 500 feet down in a gorge on Sunday. The site is some 90km from state capital Gangtok.

Suspecting a major accident, they informed police.

“As the police team reached the spot, they found sharp marks of wheels indicating that the vehicle had skidded off the road. Immediately, a search team was formed. In due course, all the six bodies were recovered from the gorge,” said a police source.

Along with the policemen of Mangan and Chungthang police stations, volunteers of Lachung Hotel Association and North Sikkim Drivers’ Association also joined in the rescue work.

A police official said that it appeared that the accident occurred late on the evening of Friday at Khidum Bhir.