Twelve die in Himachal accident

Twelve people, some of them children, were killed in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district when their vehicle skidded off the road and fell into a 700-metre-deep gorge while they were on their way back from playing a cricket match, police said Monday.

The accident took place Sunday night. The victims were all between 11 and 25 years old. They died on the spot and their bodies were recovered from the wreckage early Monday, Superintendent of Police B.M. Sharma told IANS over phone.

The group, from Kuthar and other villages in Badgran panchayat in Bharmour subdivision, were returning in a multi-utility vehicle after playing a cricket match.

Sharma said the accident occurred Sunday night near the Kuthar rivulet, 80 km from district headquarters Chamba. The cause of the accident is still to be ascertained.

Eyewitnesses said the authorities had a tough time extricating the victims from the gorge.

Chamba is one of remotest places in the state and scarcity and low frequency of passenger buses in the district leads to overcrowding of vehicles.