PNS | DEHRADUN
Four people who were returning home after celebrating New Year died in a car accident in Kapkot area of Bageshwar district late on Wednesday. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the police retrieved all bodies by Thursday.
The officials informed that an Alto car reportedly plunged into the Pindar River near Kapkot late on Wednesday. The accident occurred on the Badiyakot-Bageshwar road near Tikh village, where the vehicle veered off the road and fell into the deep gorge. All four occupants, including two men and two women, died on the spot. Local residents who witnessed the incident informed the authorities. The police along with SDRF launched a rescue operation. Three bodies were recovered on Wednesday night and the fourth was retrieved early Thursday morning.
The officials said that the deceased have been identified as Sunder Aithani (32), the driver of the vehicle, Munna Shahi (30) from Ason, Neelam Rawat (33) from Timilabgarh and Poonam Pandey (30) from Bageshwar. The car was registered in the name of Sunder Aithani’s father. According to them, the group was returning to Bageshwar after celebrating New Year when the driver of the car lost control near a sharp turn causing the vehicle to fall into the river. The vehicle had plummeted a significant distance, making rescue efforts particularly challenging, as per the officials. They informed that the steep terrain and poor visibility due to darkness delayed the recovery of the fourth body on Wednesday and in the wee hours of Thursday. It was recovered in the morning and all the bodies were sent to the district hospital for post-mortem examination.
