Taxi falls into Sikkim gorge, six relatives die

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RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT, 20 Nov 2018, Gangtok: Six members of a family, including two children, and a taxi driver died when the vehicle in which they were travelling fell into a gorge in South Sikkim late on Sunday.

A police source said the accident had taken place on Papong-Yanggang Road at Mangley when the members of an extended family were returning after attending a wedding reception. The vehicle fell down about 400ft into the gorge.

Two other members of the family were seriously injured in the crash.

The deceased were Tilak Gurung, Chandra Bahadur Gurung, Purnimaya Gurung, Nar Bahadur Gurung, Bhim Rai, the driver, and two children Joel Gurung and Ukshana Gurung.

"Three persons died on the spot and the four others succumbed to their injuries later in the hospital. The injured are admitted to Central Referral Hospital in Manipal," the source said.

All the dead and the injured are residents of Yanggang, the source added.

Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling, who hails from Yanggang, visited the families of the dead and injured on Monday. He handed over an exgratia of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the driver, as per the existing government scheme, and Rs 2 lakh each to others.

Chamling said the injured would be given Rs 1 lakh each. He also said he would provide a government job to a family member of Tilak, who was in state service, and finance the studies of the two orphaned kids of Nar Bahadur and Purnimaya in his personal capacity.