Shimla:
Eight persons were killed and dozen others injured when the overloaded jeep they were travelling in rolled down into 500-feet deep gorge near Kihar on Chandi-Kandwara road in Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh, police said on Friday.
Seven persons, including two women and a child, died on the spot while one injured person succumbed to his injuries on way to the hospital on Thursday night.
Twelve injured persons were rushed to hospital at Salooni and later referred to civil hospital at Chamba, police said.
The bodies of all the victims have been extricated from the wreckages of the jeep and sent for post mortem.
All the victims, on their way from Salooni to Kandwara, were local people and identified as Vinod Kumar, Ghoru, Jeevana, Purkhi Ram and his son, Naro Devi and Geeta Devi. The cause of accident is yet to be ascertained but eye-witnesses said that slippery road conditions due to heavy rains caused the accident.