5 of family among 6 killed as car falls into gorge in Himachal's Chamba

Six people, including five of a family, were killed on the spot when their car fell 500 metres down into a gorge in Himachal's Chamba district, police said on Friday.

The accident happened near Chanvas in Tissa subdivision of Chamba district when a government school teacher was returning home from Banikhet along with his family members.

As per preliminary investigations, a falling rock hit the vehicle following which the vehicle fell into the gorge. They were about a kilometre away from their house when the car plunged into the gorge.

The villagers rushed to the spot as soon as the heard the screams and immediately informed the police and started the rescue operations.

Rajesh, a teacher in Banikhet, his wife Hanso (36) his son, Deepak (15), and daughter, Aarti (17), brother-in-law, Hemraj, and another person the family gave lift to in their car died in the accident.

The accident took place around 9:30 on Thursday night and it took almost six hours to recover the bodies. A case has been registered and further investigations are underway, police said.