CHAINPUR: At least eight persons were killed and another seven injured when a jeep heading for Chainpur fell into the Seti River in Mauribagar, Chaudhari VDC, in Bajhang on Sunday evening.

The deceased have been identified as Chakrajung Bahadur Singh, Deepak Bhandari, Dev Raj Giri and Bishnu Giri of Matela VDC, in Bajhang, Firoz Muslim an Indian national and Basanta Joshi the driver as well as the owner of the ill-fated vehicle. Two others are yet to be identified.

According to the police, the accident occurred when the jeep with around 15 occupants fell nearly 300 metres from the road into a gorge at about 7 pm. The police suspect that the accident occurred due to reckless driving as the driver had been inebriated.