Five killed in Himachal road accident

Five people, including two women and a child, were killed Thursday when the vehicle they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a 500-foot-deep gorge in Himachal Pradesh, police said.

The accident occurred at Shimla district's Koi village near Ganvi, some 170 km from the state capital, police said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Sunil Negi told IANS over the phone that all bodies had been recovered from the wreckage of the sports utility vehicle.

The victims were residents of the area and belonged to two families, he said.

He said the area had been experiencing rainfall for the past few days and the cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained.

The civil authorities had to call in Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel to undertake the rescue operation that lasted more than eight hours, police said.