In the early hours of Thursday, an SUV carrying eight pilgrims from Gujarat fell into a 300‑meter deep gorge in Uttarakhand, killing four men, including the driver. The vehicle—an SUV—finally crashed into a river after falling from the gorge, and a local police officer confirmed that one woman was seriously injured and that two other women were missing, with authorities actively searching for them.
Incident Details
The accident occurred in India’s northern state of Uttarakhand, a region known for its rugged terrain and steep valleys. The SUV was traveling through this area during a Gujarati pilgrimage when the vehicle’s momentum carried it past a cliff. Local police reports indicate the vehicle plunged approximately 300 meters to the canyon floor, where it struck a river downstream from the gash, in the early minutes of Thursday morning.
According to the police officer, the vehicle carried a total of eight people: the driver and six passengers. Among the passengers were three men and three women. The four fatalities were all men, and the driver was among them. The single serious injury concerns a woman, and her condition remains critical. The two remaining women are reported missing, presumed to have fallen but not yet located.
All individuals involved—the driver, passengers, and those affected—were identified as hailing from Gujarat. Their journey was a pilgrimage that brought them to Uttarakhand for religious purposes. The officer noted that the passenger group was traveling together as a single party, including those who later fell, with no indication of an earlier incident before the fall.
The vehicle’s sudden plunge into the gorge was described by the officer as abrupt and unexpected. All witnesses confirmed that the SUV’s path led directly over a cliff that opened onto the deep ravine. The Tuskan watercourse below the gorge was confirmed to have submerged the vehicle once it descended, proceeding to carry it downhill.
Search Operation Continues
In response to the accident, local authorities initiated a search operation immediately after the crash. The operator has deployed teams to the gorge’s rim and to the riverbed, employing both ground crews and possible aerial support to locate the missing passengers. The absence of any recovered bodies beyond the four confirmed deceased further emphasizes the difficulty of the terrain involved.
The search extends both along the gorge’s side and downstream along the river channel, where debris from the SUV may have scattered. Police remain optimistic due to the early timing of the incident, which affords better visibility for rescuers, but the officer acknowledged that the region’s landscape poses containment challenges.
Officials have not issued any instructions to the general public, explaining that caution is advised when approaching the gorge’s area. The search continues into the next day, as authorities rely on the data provided by vehicular traffic monitoring and first‑responder reports. The incident, occurring by the clock at the beginning of Thursday, highlighted the fragility of pilgrimage journeys in the region’s topography.
Thus, the present status is: four men, including the driver, died in the incident; a woman sustained a serious injury; two women remain missing, and the search operation is ongoing within Uttarakhand’s challenging terrain. The accident serves as a reminder that mountainous travels are demanding, especially when high‐volume pilgrimages merge with local road systems. Authorities strive to conclude the search swiftly and ensure that any survivors are given appropriate medical assistance. The incident drew swift apprehension by the police and the local medical services, who remain on standby to handle further developments as the operation unfolds.
