A tragic road accident in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district claimed four lives and left 19 others injured after a Tempo Traveller carrying 23 occupants plunged into a deep gorge near Jalora Mor on the Banjar-Jalori Pass stretch of NH-305 on Saturday night. The vehicle was travelling from Jalori Pass towards Jibhi when the mishap occurred around 9.15 pm.
The deceased have been identified as Deepali (36), wife of Karan Arora from New Delhi; Amit Kumar (30) from Saroop Nagar in New Delhi; Simran (25), wife of Rohit Mishra from Kota district in Rajasthan; and Aayushman from Patna in Bihar. The victims were part of a group of tourists visiting the scenic region.
The injured include individuals from multiple states, reflecting the diverse tourist influx to the area. Among them are Karan (35), Kiyan (5), Mohit (30), Ginni (3) and Nikita (27) from Delhi; Anchal (25), Madhup Sharma (33), Rohit (25), Fiza (24) and Anurag (21) from Rajasthan; Hardeep Singh (24) from Lucknow; and Dinu Saifi (26) from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh. Others injured include Abhinav Modi (21) from Haryana, Arya Jain (24) from Malerkotla in Punjab, Aditya Narayan (21) from Odisha and Ayushi (26) from Pune in Maharashtra. The addresses of two injured persons, Shashi and Arnav (24), are yet to be confirmed. Notably, the injured include two young children aged five and three.
According to the driver, Liyakat Hussain (37) from Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, the accident was triggered by a sudden brake failure while negotiating a steep downhill stretch, causing the vehicle to lose control and plunge into the gorge.
A swift and coordinated rescue operation was launched by the local administration, police, Revenue and Health Departments, along with fire services and residents. Volunteers from local tourism bodies also joined the efforts. Banjar SDM Pankaj Sharma said the operation continued for over four hours, concluding around 1.25 am, with several lives saved due to timely intervention.