Pro-Sikkim Editor killed in road mishap

GANGTOK, 05 Dec: Editor-publisher of the recently launched English weekly, “Pro- Sikkim”, Tenzing Bhutia, was killed in a road mishap here this afternoon when the Bolero vehicle being driven by him veered off the road at Rawtey on the Ranipool-Rumtek highway at around 4 p.m. He was the sole occupant of the vehicle.
Confirming the accident, personnel at the Ranipool Police Station further informed that the vehicle crashed around 500 to 600 feet down the cliff side. Eye witness accounts add that the vehicle came to rest further down from even the alternative highway excavation about 500 feet below the spot from where the vehicle flew off the road. The vehicle went off the road at a sharp turning at the spot.
Since the mishap occurred early enough in the day, the crash of the vehicle alerted several people and a rescue effort was mounted immediately. Personnel from the Ranipool Police Station assisted by residents of the area extracted Mr. Bhutia from the ill-fated vehicle. Sources inform that Mr. Bhutia was still conscious when the rescuers reached him, but succumbed to his injuries shortly after. His body was carried across the Rani Khola to the highway from where it was escorted to the STNM Hospital for autopsy, it is informed.
Clearer details on what could have caused the accident will be available once the police investigation is completed, officials add. Mr. Bhutia’s newspaper has its office in Rangpo and he used to live in Rumtek, it is learnt.
Mr. Bhutia was formerly with the State Bank of India and had launched “Pro- Sikkim” on 29 November here at the Press Club of Sikkim.