Shimla:
Seven women and three children from Rajasthan were killed in Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur district when their overcrowded jeep skidded off the road and fell into a 500-metre-deep gorge, police said today.
The victims, mostly labourers working in a road project, were on their way home when their Bolero jeep fell into a gorge near near Uhal village last evening, Superintendent of Police Jagat Ram told IANS.
He said seven women and three children had died. Five of the injured have been admitted to the zonal hospital in Hamirpur, around 175 km from the state capital Shimla.
Witnesses told police that the vehicle was overcrowded and the driver probably lost control while negotiating a turn.
They said the rescue workers had a tough time extricating the victims from the mangled vehicle.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Governor Urmila Singh expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident.