In the early hours of Thursday, an SUV carrying eight people plunged into a 300‑meter‑deep gorge in Uttarakhand, India, killing four men and leaving a woman seriously injured and two women missing. The incident, confirmed by a local police officer, occurred near a pilgrimage route that attracts visitors from Gujarat.
Incident details
The vehicle, identified as a regular SUV, was traveling eastward when it lost control and overturned, falling down the sheer 300‑metre drop and finally landing in a river below. The timing of the fall was early local time, with the event unfolding during the night, which may have compounded rescue challenges.
Casualties and passengers
According to the officer, the SUV carried a driver and six passengers—three men and three women—all of whom were from the western state of Gujarat. The four fatalities included the driver and three male passengers. The only injured individual was a woman who sustained serious injuries, while the remaining two female passengers are still missing.
Local authorities reported that the missing riders were believed to have realized the vehicle’s descent and were possibly separated from the group. There is no published information on whether a formal rescue plan has been initiated beyond the police search operation.
The incident took place on a known pilgrimage corridor, which makes it part of a larger influx of devotees traveling to Uttarakhand’s sacred sites. The state typically experiences increased traffic and traffic-related accidents during peak pilgrimage seasons, especially in valleys with narrow roads that can become treacherous after rain or during late‑night travel.
Police said the search operation remains in progress, with officers combing the gorge and the surrounding riverbanks for any signs of the missing women. They appealed to local residents to come forward with any information that could aid the search, indicating that traffic and road conditions remain hazardous.
