Tourist from Kolkata among 2 killed as taxi falls into river in Sikkim

Gangtok: Two people were killed as a taxi with tourists fell into a river near Singtam in Sikkim on Saturday morning, police said.

A family of five from Kolkata was travelling from Siliguri to Gangtok when the vehicle plunged into the Rani River at Sang Khola, they said.

The taxi driver and a member of the family were killed in the accident. While the driver is yet to be identified, the other deceased is 72-year-old Rabindra Nath Paul.

The injured people were first taken to the nearby district hospital in Singtam, which sent them to the Central Referral Hospital in Gangtok.

They were identified as Tapas Paul (33), Krishna Paul (36), Mira Paul (60) and a four-year-old girl. The bodies of the deceased were kept at the mortuary of the district hospital in Singtam.

Police said the cause of the accident was being investigated.

Efforts are also underway to bring out the vehicle from the river, they said.