Two tourists injured in a road accident in Sikkim on Monday were brought to the Siliguri District Hospital (SDH) on Tuesday. The injured tourists have been identified as Pratap Biswas, 41, and Tusharkant Pathak, 53. The tourist vehicle with eight occupants, including the driver, plunged down 150 feet down a cliff near Tinzerbong in West Sikkim on Monday, killing five people and leaving three injured.
The five deceased tourists have been identified as Bibhas Pathak, 42, Lily Pathak, 52, Asha Lata Pathak, 61, Niharendu Biswas, 57, and Brajendranath Pathak, 71, all residents of Nutanpally in North 24 Parganas district. Four of them were from the same family, it is learnt.
Asked about the incident, Tusharkant Pathak, who is undergoing treatment at the SDH, said, “We were travelling to our hotel in Kaluk from Namchi after visiting ‘Char Dham’ while the car tumbled down at 8 pm and local people rescued me and immediately took me to the hospital. I do not know why the accident happened.”
Ashim Rai, 27, a resident of Daragaon in Darjeeling, had been driving the car.
“The trio injured was rescued and taken to the Jorethang hospital from where they were referred to the district hospital in Namchi. Two tourists were sent to Siliguri today (Tuesday) for further treatment. Meanwhile, the body of the five deceased was sent to the district hospital in Gyalshing for post-mortem. Initially, police suspect that the driver had been overtaking another vehicle when it fell down the cliff. A case has been registered and investigations are on,” said the Superintendent of Police, West Sikkim, Tenzing Lodey Bhutia.