One night, one spot, two accidents

Four killed, five injured in fatal road accidents at MP Golai

GANGTOK, June 8: Four people were killed and five of them seriously injured in two separate accidents at the same spot within hours of each others.
In the first accident, four people were killed and three of them sustained serious injuries when the vehicle in which they were traveling skidded off the road while it was trying to negotiate a sharp hair-pin bend on the National Highway here yesterday.
The tragic accident occurred at MP Golai, 5th Mile here last night.
The accident occurred at around 12:15 am today morning when a Bolero bearing number SK-02A-1090 skidded off the National Highway 31A and fell 500 feet below.
Four of them died on the spot whereas other three sustained major injuries. All the dead as well as injured are young people in their 20s and early 30s.
The four persons who lost their lives in an accident are identified as Geetu Pradhan, Passang Tshering Bhutia, Rabina Tamang and Rajni Tamang from Jalipool.
Others to sustain the accident are Manju Pradhan, Sameer Chettri and Khagendra Sharma. The injured were rushed to the Central Referral Hospital here in Tadong.
According to the Police, the reason for the accident is believed to be over-speeding.
The group was reportedly returning back home to Jalipool after a late night party in a local discotheque in the Capital. The driver, as well as the occupants are said be under the influence of alcohol when the accident occurred.
Immediately after the news of the accident got around, the locals, along with the Police rushed to the spot and started the rescue operations. The conditions of the three injured are said to be critical.
In a bizarre coincidence, local taxi van (SK 04/ 2421) met with an accident a few hours ago at precisely the same spot around 10:30 pm on Saturday night. The van, which was on its way to 6th Mile Tadong, reportedly also skidded off the road but landed just 50 feet below the road. The driver of the vehicle Suresh Tamang and the passenger Kumar Mangar were seriously injured in the incident. They had also been immediately rushed to the Central Referral Hospital by the locals.
A case of reckless driving has been lodged against the drivers in both the cases.

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