Eight members of a marriage party were killed early Tuesday when a privately-owned overcrowded vehicle rolled down a 250-feet gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district, police said.
The pickup vehicle met with the accident near Bakrua nullah in Salooni tehsil, some 50 km from district headquarters Chamba, Additional Superintendent of Police Kulwant Thakur told IANS over the phone.
Fourteen people were injured in the accident and most of them have been admitted to the zonal hospital in Chamba town, about 450 km from the state capital. Most of the dead and the injured were from Chamba district.
The accident spot is one of the remotest places in the state.
Eyewitnesses said the vehicle was overcrowded and the driver probably lost control over the vehicle while negotiating a curve.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh expressed grief over the incident.
The chief minister directed the district administration to take all possible measures to rescue the survivors and provide them adequate relief.