Seven Delhi residents killed in accident in Himachal (Second Lead)
By IANSTuesday, January 12, 2010
NEW DELHI/SHIMLA - Seven people from Delhi, five of whom lived in the same neighbourhood, were killed and two critically injured in a road accident in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district Tuesday, a police official said.
The accident occurred when a Mahindra Scorpio with nine people hit a bridge and skidded into a gorge at Dadhol village near Ghumarwin in Bilaspur, about 110 km from state capital Shimla, at 12.20 a.m. Tuesday, police superintendent (Bilaspur) Kuldeep Sharma told IANS.
“Prima facie, it seems to be a case of rash and negligent driving,” the police officer said.
He said six people died instantly while one died at the Bilaspur district hospital.
Those who were killed were identified as Gajender Rastogi, 26, Deepak Garg, 28, Sonu, 20, Nitin, 29, Jhony, 21, and Shalesh, 24. The name of the driver was not yet known. The injured were identified as Ganesh and Pravesh, who saved their lives by jumping out of the SUV.
According to the police, five of them were from the same colony in C-Block of Brahmpuri in east Delhi. They had hired the SUV from Ram Rahim Tour and Travels in the same area Sunday.
They reached Shimla Monday and were on their way to the Hindu shrine of Jwalamukhi in Kangra district.
After the incident, relatives and some local politicians visited the victims’ families to console them. The victims’ bodies are likely to brought back to Delhi Wednesday.