SURKHET: At least 10 persons died on the spot, two others sustained injuries and one went missing after a jeep plunged into the Bheri River in Thulibheri Municipality of Dolpa district on Monday.

Dolpa Chief District Officer (CDO) Bhupendra Thapa said that seven males and three females died in the accident. CDO Thapa identified the deceased as Hemraj Hamal (45), Laxmi Rokaya (18), Narsingh Kathayat (65), Ashmita Rokaya (13), Sher Bahadur Thapa (25), Bodh Dharala (45), his daughter Manisha Dharala (17),  Kumar Rokaya (24), and Yam Rokaya (12), of Tripurasundari Municipality and Bhadra Rokaya (30), of Thulibehri Municipality.

The missing person has been identified as Abhina Budha (21), of Tripurasundari Municipality. She is a staffer at the district court, said police.

According to District Police Office, Dolpa, the jeep heading to Supani from Dolpa headquarters Dunai plunged 100 metres into the Bheri River at Kalgauda at 2:45 pm. As many as 13 passengers were aboard the jeep.

The jeep was fished out of the river after a government team, including CDO Thapa and DSP Abdesh Bista reached the incident site. The CDO said that driver Dinesh Bahadur Bohora and Ward No 2 Chair Nanda Bahadur Thapa were rescued and rushed to the district hospital for treatment, while the bodies were sent for postmortem.

Rescued Bohora and Thapa were said to be in critical condition. CDO Thapa said that preparations were underway to send them to another health institution for further treatment.

The incident site is at a distance of four kilometres from the district headquarters.

Small jeeps have been operating transportation service from Dunai to Juphal and Supani among other places in the district for the past six years. It has been learnt that those jeeps were delivered in the district by helicopters.