GANGTOK, 04 Oct: Five persons are feared dead while six others escaped with injuries when the Bolero (SK-01J-1900) they were traveling in plunged into the Teesta river after colliding head-on with a truck coming from the opposite direction. The accident occured near Geil Khola, West Benagl, along NH 31A under Kalimpong Police Station this morning.
Police sources in Kalimpong confirm that the accident occurred at around 9:30 AM when the Siliguri-bound jeep coming from Pakyong in East Sikkim collided head-on with the truck while reportedly trying to overtake another vehicle.
Following the collision, the ill-fated passenger vehicle fell about 100 feet off the road into the Teesta. The impact of the collision was so severe that even the frontend of the truck was completely smashed, it is learnt.
The vehicle was carrying 11 persons including the driver.
While the body of one of the casualties - Ram Krishna Rai, aged about 30, from Pachey-Samsing village in East Sikkim has been recovered, the bodies of four others feared dead are yet to be recovered, media reports informs.
Meanwhile, six other occupants of the vehicle managed to escape with injuries. The injured were rushed to Rambi block Primary Health Centre and were released after first aid.
The four feared dead are the driver of the vehicle, Tek Bahadur Bhujel, Deepak Gupta, Ganesh Gupta and Bilawal Hussein.
An injured passenger, Sayeed Alam, a construction worker at Pakyong, has been quoted in media reports as stating the vehicle was moving in high speed when it collided with the truck.
“Our vehicle was in full speed and was trying to overtake another jeep in front of us when it suddenly collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction after which our car took a tumble and rolled into the river. I broke the rear window to escape and swam to safety”.
Sahimidin Mia, a construction worker from Cooch Behar, who fractured his right hand, said, “When the vehicle hit the water I was thrown out and swam to the shore”.
“Four out of us five workers managed to escape but Bilawal Hussein is still missing,” informs Saheed Alam (17) of Islampur. The five work at a construction site in Pakyong and were travelling to their homes today.
The 21 year old driver of the truck has in the meanwhile been taken into custody while the Bolero was recovered at around 4 PM with the help of a recovery van and a rafting team.
Member of Pakyong Zilla Panchayat, Santosh Kr Gurung, CLC member of the ruling party, DB Gurung, SDF’s District convenor, TB Gurung and GM Gurung of Rhenock constituency along with owner of the vehicle, Usman Sheikh and relatives of the missing persons also reached the spot today.
Police sources in Kalimpong confirm that the accident occurred at around 9:30 AM when the Siliguri-bound jeep coming from Pakyong in East Sikkim collided head-on with the truck while reportedly trying to overtake another vehicle.
Following the collision, the ill-fated passenger vehicle fell about 100 feet off the road into the Teesta. The impact of the collision was so severe that even the frontend of the truck was completely smashed, it is learnt.
The vehicle was carrying 11 persons including the driver.
While the body of one of the casualties - Ram Krishna Rai, aged about 30, from Pachey-Samsing village in East Sikkim has been recovered, the bodies of four others feared dead are yet to be recovered, media reports informs.
Meanwhile, six other occupants of the vehicle managed to escape with injuries. The injured were rushed to Rambi block Primary Health Centre and were released after first aid.
The four feared dead are the driver of the vehicle, Tek Bahadur Bhujel, Deepak Gupta, Ganesh Gupta and Bilawal Hussein.
An injured passenger, Sayeed Alam, a construction worker at Pakyong, has been quoted in media reports as stating the vehicle was moving in high speed when it collided with the truck.
“Our vehicle was in full speed and was trying to overtake another jeep in front of us when it suddenly collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction after which our car took a tumble and rolled into the river. I broke the rear window to escape and swam to safety”.
Sahimidin Mia, a construction worker from Cooch Behar, who fractured his right hand, said, “When the vehicle hit the water I was thrown out and swam to the shore”.
“Four out of us five workers managed to escape but Bilawal Hussein is still missing,” informs Saheed Alam (17) of Islampur. The five work at a construction site in Pakyong and were travelling to their homes today.
The 21 year old driver of the truck has in the meanwhile been taken into custody while the Bolero was recovered at around 4 PM with the help of a recovery van and a rafting team.
Member of Pakyong Zilla Panchayat, Santosh Kr Gurung, CLC member of the ruling party, DB Gurung, SDF’s District convenor, TB Gurung and GM Gurung of Rhenock constituency along with owner of the vehicle, Usman Sheikh and relatives of the missing persons also reached the spot today.
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