Manali 23 August: All 11 persons, including five women and three children, travelling in a vehicle were killed when it skidded off the road and fell into a gorge near rahni nullah 5kms short ofthe Rohtang Pass in Kullu district, police said on Thursday.
The accident occurred near Rahni nullah on the Manali-Rohtang road, 47 km from Manali. The victims were on their way towards Pangi from Manali when the accident occurred.
According to Superintendent of Police ,Kullu Shalini Agnihotri poor visibility owing to rain was believed to be the cause of the accident. She added the accident occurred on Wednesday night but the police came to know about it only on Thursday morning.
According to police sources they were travelling in Scorpio, HP-45-7000 which left Manali on wedenes day night and crossed Gulaba barrier for Rohtang pass at about 12;30 pm and was going to pangi.
The deceased was identified as Kalpna Devi w/o Rakesh kumar r/o shoor,Ayushman (2yrs) s/o of Rakesh kumar r/o Shoor,Monika(23) r/o kufa,Anjna(30) w/o Mukesh Kumar R/o Bishtho,Naksh (1and half Yrs) S/o Mukesh kumar r/o Bishtho,Prem Raj (29) S/o Mansingh R/o Grosti,Dharmsingh (40) s/o Choudharyram R/o Chcholi,Kunti(7) D/o Dharmsingh r/o Chcholi, Meena (22) W/o Rajesh Kumar and two yet to be identfyed.
According to witnesses , the administration had a tough time in extracting the victims from the gorge. The villagers started the rescue operations before the authorities could reach the spot.
Sanjay Dutta, an engineer by qualification but is a journalist by choice.
He has worked for the premier new agency Press Trust of India and leading English daily Indian Express.
With more than a decade of experience, he has been highlighting issues related to environment, tourism and other aspects affecting mountain ecology.
Sanjay Dutta lives in a village close to Manali in Kullu valley of Himachal.
