At least one person died and two others have been reported injured in a road accident near Satpuli in Pauri district on Thursday. Soon after receiving information about the accident, the local police and local unit of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) reached the spot and rescued the victims from gorge their car had fallen into. The injured were taken to the Kotwdwar hospital.
The deceased has been identified as Arti Sharma (37) while the injured are her husband Rajesh Sharma (47) and their son Uttam Sharma (17)– all residents of Kotdwar.
According to local police, the accident happened at about 10 am in the morning.
The family was driving back to Kotdwar from HNB Garhwal University in Srinagar when the accident occurred. Prima facie it appears that the driver was not able to steer the car correctly while negotiating a tight turn, because of which he lost control of the car, causing it to fall off the road and down into a 300 metre deep gorge. According to officials, they could have jumped from the car if they weren’t wearing seat-belts.
The woman was already dead by the time search and rescue teams reached them and the father-son duo is undergoing treatment at Kotdwar hospital. They are said to be in critical condition.
