At least 42 persons died and about 20 were injured as a truck carrying them fell into a deep gorge near Bikasen town in Almora district in the Himalayan state of Uttaranchal on Tuesday afternoon.
According to Kumaon division commissioner Rakesh Sharma "The accident took place around 120 km from Almora at about 3 pm, when the driver of the truck carrying a marriage party lost control and the vehicle rolled down a 300-metre gorge. The truck had about 62 persons on board."
He said, "27 bodies were recovered by sunset, while two of the 22 hospitalised succumbed to their injuries."
The relief teams continued their search for 11 remaining bodies even after dark. "We may have to wait until the morning to recover the remaining bodies" said District Magistrate Rajeev Chandra who had reached the remote site of the mishap.
Sharma told this scribe over telephone from Nainital, "Such accidents do keep happening in this hilly region and more often than not it was the human factor responsible for the mishaps." He did not rule out the possibility of the truck driver being drunk.
