3 killed as pickup van falls into river in Pithoragarh

Three persons were killed and another was injured when a pickup van fell into the Gori river in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district, police said on Tuesday.

The accident occurred late on Monday night near Madkot when the vehicle was on its way to Munsyari amid heavy rain, Pithoragarh additional district magistrate R D Paliwal said.

"It was dark and the road was slippery due to heavy rain. The vehicle apparently slipped off the road and fell into the river killing three on the spot and leaving another injured," he said.

The bodies could be recovered quickly as the pickup van landed near the river bank and did not get swept away by a strong current, Paliwal said.

He said the deceased was identified as Ravindra Rawat, Dhiraj Kumar and Ravindra Bisht.

The injured, Suraj Paliwal, was admitted to a hospital in Madkot, Paliwal said.

It has been raining incessantly in the border subdivisions of the district for nearly a week.