DEHRADUN: Five killed and five were injured as a wedding party’s car plunged into a deep gorge in the Lohaghat region of Uttarakhand in the early hours of Friday.

According to the District Disaster Control Room, the group was travelling in a Mahindra Bolero jeep returning after wedding rituals, reportedly lost control near Barakot on the National Highway and tumbled into the ravine late Thursday night. The crash occurred near Bagdhar, close to Barakot, and the cause is under investigation.

Police and SDRF teams launched an immediate rescue operation. SDRF Commandant Arpan Yaduwanshi said extracting the victims from the deep gorge was “extremely challenging,” but all were retrieved after sustained efforts.

The deceased have been identified as Prakash Chand Uniyal (40) of Subhashnagar, Rudrapur; Kewal Chandra Uniyal (35); Suresh Nautiyal (32); Bhavna Chaubey (28); and her six-year-old son, Priyanshu Chaubey.

The injured include the driver, Devidutt Pandey (38) of Seraghat, Almora; Dheeraj Uniyal (12) of Rudrapur; Rajesh Joshi (14) of Bankot, Gangolihat; Chetan Chaubey (5) of Delhi; and Bhaskar Panda of Seraghat, Gangolihat. The injured were taken to the Lohaghat Sub-District Hospital, where two remain in critical condition.