16 feared killed in tragic road mishap near Teesta

NAMCHI, 20 Jan: A tragic road mishap near Teesta under Kalimpong sub-division of West Bengal on the night of 18 January is feared to have claimed 16 lives. Dead bodies of only eight of those feared killed in the accident have been recovered thus far. The only survivors of the mishap are the five who escaped with injuries. The ill-fated vehicle was staggering overloaded with 21 people on board against the prescribed limit of 11 including the driver.
The accident has cast a pall of gloom over the South district border town on Namchi. 15 of the passengers claimed by the accident were from Melli, most of them from two families, including one of the driver’s.
The vehicle [a Tata Spacio taxi], it is learnt, was ferrying 21 passengers from the Triveni Mela at the Teesta-Rangeet confluence on the West Bengal side and was heading back to Melli via Teesta. Six of passengers on board were from Teesta, West Bengal.
Barely a kilometre out of the mela venue towards Teesta, the overloaded vehicle lost control veering off the road and plunged into the Teesta at around 8 PM.
On learning about the accident, a Melli Police team headed by PI Bijoy Subba along with the local rescue team reached the spot and with the help of locals and the rafters from Teesta launched a rescue operation. Six bodies were recovered by the rescue team on Saturday while two more bodies were recovered from near Kalijhora, West Bengal. Eight are still missing and the search operation is underway for the missing passengers.
The PI informed that the accident could have been caused by the vehicle’s overload and speeding. The ill fated vehicle was taken out from the river yesterday while the recovered bodies were handed over to their respective families. A number of Ministers and MLAs of the Sikkim Government also visited the spot yesterday and met the families of the victims.