Ambulance falls into Rangeet, claims one

GANGTOK, 17 July: An accident on 14 July, involving an ambulance claimed the life of one person. The ambulance, a Tata Sumo [SK-04P-2217], of the NHPC Rangeet Nagar, fell off the road into the Rangeet taking with it the driver and two other passengers. The driver, LB Chettri, is reported to have succumbed to his injuries. 
The accident took place at Champa, about four and a half kilometers from the Melli police station. The ambulance was returning from Siliguri to Rangeet Nagar when it met with accident at around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday evening. The vehicle, it is learnt fell down around 80 feet and landed in the river. The Melli Police Station was informed in time and a team led by SI Kessang Bhutia and cincluding Constables Chogyal Lepcha, Santa Kumar Rai and Aita Hang Subba and Home Guards Bir Bahadur Rai and Yog Bahadur Gurung rushed to the spot and mounted the rescue effort.
When they reached the spot, the three occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, were still inside the ambulance which itself was in the Rangeet.
All the three victims were rushed to the Melli PHC for treatment. One of the passengers, Amit Pandey, was referred on to Siliguri for treatment while B. Pandey received first aid for the minor injuries sustained. Unfortunately the driver, LB Chettri, succumbed to his injuries at the PHC at around 6:50 PM the same day. All three were NHPC employees stationed at Rangeet Nagar.