19 injured in Dhading jeep plunge; 9 critical

DHADING: As many as 19 persons have sustained injuries after the bolero jeep they were travelling on fell below the road into a river in Gajuri Rural Municipality-2 in Dhading district on Thursday.

The overloaded Jeep (Ga 1 Ja 3011) was travelling along the Malekhu-Bhandara road section of Prithvi Highway when it skidded off the road and plunged some 70 metres below into Tuni Khola at around 9:00 am today, injuring 19.

After the report of the accident, police, Red Cross volunteers and locals rushed to the site and rescued the injured.

All the injured have been rescued and sent to Highway Community Hospital, Malekhu for treatment, informed local Bharat Barakoti.

The jeep was ferrying 23 passengers from Talti of Benighat Rorang Rural Municipality to Malekhu when the jeep lost control, Barakoti added.

Among the injured Achyut Silwal (25) and Bibas Sedai (15) of Garuri-2, Dinesh Tamang (22) of Gajuri-3, Nawaraj Kharel of Saraswati Regmi (18) of Chapdanda in Benighat Rorang-2, Santimaya Tamang (34) of Taltika, Naresh Silwal (24) of Benighat Rorang-4 and Sunil Darji (28) of Manahari-3 of Makawanpur are in critical condition, informed Area Police Office Gajuri.

It has been suspected that the accident might have been caused by carrying passengers beyond the capacity of the jeep.