Dehradun: Five people returning from a wedding died after their car veered off a rain-slicked road and plunged into a 300-metre-deep gorge in Chamoli district's

Nijmola Valley

, police said on Saturday. The deceased — Surendra Bharti, 46, Surendralal, 53, Jaideep Kumar, 25, Mohanlal, 50, and Mahavirlal, 50 — were residents of Golim village in Chamoli. Among them, Mohanlal and Kumar were father and son. They had attended a wedding in Pagna village, about 5km from the accident site.
Chamoli Dr Sandeep Tiwari said personnel from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police, and revenue department reached the spot. However, continuous rain and darkness posed significant challenges in executing the relief and rescue work at the accident site. The district has been experiencing strong storms and rain. Tiwari said the weather department had issued a rain alert for the next three days.
SP Sarvesh Panwar told TOI, "Preliminary probe suggested that they were speeding while heading home, The rescue team reached the car after a couple of hours and found that all five were dead. Their bodies were sent to a nearby hospital. Soon their families too reached there. However, they refused to conduct their post-mortem examination, after which the bodies were handed over to them for the last rites."
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed deep condolences over the road accident and directed the district administration to provide the permissible assistance amount to the families of the deceased.