All seven occupants of an SUV — including three women — were killed after the vehicle skidded off a mountain road and plummeted into a 500-metre-deep gorge near Chhatrund on the Masrund-Hamal route in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, at around midnight on 18 June, police confirmed on Thursday. The victims, all residents of Mahal village under the Kuthed gram panchayat in Chamba district, were returning home after attending a 'mundan' ceremony at Kakadotha village when the accident occurred.

How the Accident Unfolded

The crash was not discovered until the following morning, when passersby spotted the badly mangled SUV lying at the bottom of the gorge. Police were alerted and rescue teams were immediately dispatched to the site. According to police, the driver appears to have lost control of the vehicle, causing it to veer off the road and plunge into the ravine. The preliminary cause of the accident is attributed to loss of vehicular control, though an investigation has been registered and is ongoing.

Recovering the bodies proved an arduous task. Rescuers had to descend the steep mountain face through narrow hilly paths, retrieving the victims one by one. Local residents had begun rescue efforts even before authorities arrived at the scene, underscoring the remoteness of the location.

A Road Known for Accidents

The stretch where the crash occurred has a long-standing reputation as an accident-prone corridor. Locals point to a combination of narrow, winding roads, steep slopes, and poor road conditions as persistent hazards. Critically, residents say the spot lacks crash barriers — a basic safety infrastructure that, they argue, could have prevented this tragedy. 'If safety measures had been in place, this accident could have been avoided,' locals said.

This is not an isolated incident on Himachal Pradesh's mountain roads. The state records dozens of fatal road accidents annually, with gorge falls accounting for a disproportionate share of fatalities, particularly in remote districts like Chamba.

Why Chamba's Roads Are Especially Dangerous

Chamba is among the most remote districts in Himachal Pradesh. The district faces a chronic shortage of public passenger buses, which forces residents to rely on private vehicles — often overloaded — for travel across difficult terrain. The combination of inadequate public transport, poorly maintained roads, and absent safety infrastructure creates conditions that repeatedly turn routine journeys into fatal ones.

The seven deceased, including the driver, had undertaken what should have been an ordinary trip home from a family religious function. Their village, Mahal, falls under Kuthed panchayat, and the ceremony they attended was held in the neighbouring Kakadotha village within the same panchayat area.

Official Response and Investigation

Police have registered a case and launched a formal investigation into the cause of the accident. Authorities face renewed pressure from local communities to install crash barriers and improve road safety infrastructure on the Masrund-Hamal route. The incident is likely to reignite demands for a comprehensive audit of accident-prone stretches across Chamba district.