Tourist vehicle mishap claims seven at Lower Mangshila, 4 injured

MANGAN, 14 Dec: A fatal accident in North Sikkim has claimed seven lives leaving four others grievously injured. The tragic accident occurred here at 5th Mile Lower Mangshila on the Mangan-Dikchu road in North Sikkim, 6 kms short of Rang-Rang towards Dikchu, last evening at around 8.30 p.m. The Mahindra (Bolero Plus) bearing registration [SK-04-2943] owned by a resident of Lachung, which was plying tourists from Lachung to Gangtok careened off the road around 1,500 feet into the ravine.

As per the records at Rang-Rang check post the vehicle had crossed Rangrang at around 8 last evening. The accident was reported only in the morning today as the area where the accident occurred is bereft of any human habitation. On learning of the accident, police personnel from Mangan along with Senior SP North, BK Tamang, and 2nd OC, Karma Yueden, reached the spot this morning.
A rescue team comprising of police personnel from North District, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the youth of 4th Mile and Tibuk Mangshila headed by Tibuk Ward Panchayat, Dilliram Limboo, managed to rescue the injured persons and recover the dead bodies. Although, it was quite difficult to reach the spot as the team had to climb down a cliff face they managed to rescue the injured persons by around 9.30 am and by 12 pm all the dead bodies were recovered.
The DC North, TN Kazi, the CMO Mangan District Hospital and TAAS advisor, Paljor Lachungpa, and TAAS members also reached the spot for the rescue operation.
Among the victims were Rajiv Chakraborty (Male-34yrs.) resident of JL Nehru Road, Kolkata, Bodhiswardhar (Male-34yrs), resident of Barishaparva Kolkata, Shankar Das (Male-31 yrs) resident of Choudhary Para Lane, Kolkata, Meena Sarkar (Female-45 yrs) resident of Sohanpur Alipurdwar, Kolkata, Mamuni Singh (Female-26 yrs) resident of Barishaparva, Kolkata , Judhishir Satapati (Male-14 yrs) resident of Puranagaddi Park GP Town Deogarh, Bihar and the driver Tashi Bhutia (29 yrs) resident of Tumin, East Sikkim.
Among the injured were Sohan Sarkar, Asit Sarkar, Saurab Sarkar residents of Mondolpara Sohanpur Dist. Alipurdwar, Kolkata and Sanjeev Kumar resident of Deogarh, Bihar who have been rushed to the Mangan District Hospital.
The Sr. SP North, BK Tamang while speaking to NOW! informed that the cause of the accident could be bad weather as the road alignment at the accident site is neither very narrow nor dangerous. The dead bodies have been sent for post mortem at Mangan and will be handed over to the family members when they arrive here.
According to the CMO, District Hospital Mangan, KT Lepcha, the injured persons were referred to STNM Hospital, Gangtok, after emergency medical aid was provided at the Mangan District Hospital and he further mentioned that out of the four, one was in a critical condition.