14 killed in Himachal road accidents

Fourteen people were killed and 15 injured in two separate road accidents in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla and Sirmaur districts on Sunday.

Eight people were killed and 15 injured when a bus skidded off the road and rolled down the hill in Sirmaur district.

The bus was on its way from Manva to Solan town when the accident occurred near the Nai Neti panchayat, around 25 km from Rajgarh town.

Most of the injured were admitted to the Regional Hospital in Solan.

Sirmaur Deputy Commissioner Lalit Jain told IANS the rescue operation was over. Most of the victims were from Rajgarh area. He said the cause of the accident was yet to be ascertained.

In another accident, all six occupants of a car were killed on the spot when it fell into a 300-foot deep gorge near Chhaila on the Theog-Hatkoti road, 42 km from Shimla.

Witnesses told police that the car driver probably lost control over the vehicle when it was descending a steep gradient.

The administration had a tough time extricating the victims of both the accidents from the badly mangled vehicles.

People in the area began rescue operations even before authorities reached the spot.

--IANS

vg/qd/mr