Chamba, Aug 8— Six people, including five members of a family, were killed late Thursday night when a boulder struck their car, sending it tumbling down a 500-metre-deep gorge in the Chanvas area of Churah sub-division in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district, police said.
The deceased were identified as Rajesh Kumar, 40, a government school teacher from Bulwas village; his wife Hanso, 36; their daughter Aarti, 17; son Deepak, 15; and Hanso’s brother Hemraj, 37, a junior commissioned officer (JCO) in the Army who was home on leave. A sixth victim, Rakesh Kumar, 44, a fellow villager who had taken a lift, also died on the spot.
Rajesh taught at Banikhet, where his children were also enrolled. The family had been returning to their native village Bulwas to celebrate Rakshabandhan and were just about a kilometre from home when the accident occurred around 9:30 pm, according to police.
Hemraj was driving the car and was accompanying his sister’s family to drop them home. The car was struck by a falling boulder, causing it to skid off the narrow mountain road and plunge into the deep gorge.
Local villagers rushed to the spot after hearing cries for help and alerted authorities. Recovery operations, hindered by the terrain and darkness, took nearly six hours, officials said.
Police have registered a case and are investigating the incident. The bodies have been handed over to the families after post-mortem.
