In the early hours of Thursday, a Toyota SUV plunged into a 300‑meter–deep gorge on a pilgrimage route in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, killing four men, including the driver, and leaving a woman seriously injured and two women missing.
According to a local police officer cited by Xinhua, the vehicle was carrying a total of seven people: the driver and six passengers—three men and three women—all of whom were travelling from the western state of Gujarat on a religious pilgrimage.
All four fatalities were male, including the driver. The injured passenger and the two missing passengers were female, Xinhua reported.
The SUV reportedly fell into the gorge and eventually landed in a river below, forcing the surviving passengers to cling to the wreckage.
The officer confirmed that a search operation was still underway to locate the two missing women, a detail that underscores the ongoing uncertainty surrounding their whereabouts.
No official statement has yet been released regarding the cause of the crash, leaving investigators to assess possible factors such as road conditions, vehicle mechanical failure, or driver error.
Beset by the high cliffs that line the riverbanks, the search teams are working amid difficult terrain, which has complicated rescue attempts.
Xinhua’s report was the first to bring the incident to public attention, and corroborating details from other local media outlets or government releases have not yet emerged.
In the absence of a definitive explanation, the situation remains fluid, with officials continuing to call for updates on the missing passengers.
Given the limited information available, stakeholders are monitoring the situation closely, hoping for a prompt resolution.
Uncertainty persists about: the exact cause of the fall, the status of the two missing women, and whether any other passengers survived the impact beyond the injured woman noted by the police officer.
