3 killed, 5 injured as car falls into gorge in Rudraprayag

Dehradun: Three persons were killed and five others injured after a car skidded off Pali Link road in Rudraprayag district and fell into a deep gorge on Saturday, officials said. State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams carried out a rescue operation under difficult conditions and evacuated the injured before retrieving the bodies.After receiving information about the accident, an SDRF team from Agastyamuni rushed to the spot and began rescue work. Officials said the team safely brought five injured persons out of the gorge and shifted them to district hospital for treatment.The deceased were identified as Mahendra Singh, 68, Anjan Singh, 42, and Sangeeta Devi, 32. The injured were identified as Reshma Devi, 40, Dakshit Singh, 5, Saanvi, 3, Vaibhav, 10, and Vihan, 8. All the deceased and injured were residents of Uthing village in Rudraprayag district.SDRF personnel also recovered the bodies from the gorge and handed them over to district police for further proceedings. Officials said the exact cause of the accident would be ascertained after investigation, though preliminary information suggested that the vehicle skidded off the road before falling into the gorge.