June 27: In a fatal accident, 10 people were killed on the spot when the maruti van they were traveling in went off the road at Pakchina village in Chhukha.

The dead includes the driver, five women, two students of Pasakha Lower Secondary School, a three month old and a three week old baby.

The incident happened around 2 pm on Wednesday, June 25.

Our reporter Kunzang Yeshi says the maruti van was carrying 17 passengers including five students and three babies. He says one of the injured, a woman with a serious skull injury, has been referred to the Siliguri hospital in India. The others are being treated at the Phuentsholing Hospital.

The cause of the accident is believed to be overloading. Survivors told our reporter that the van could not climb uphill and slipped backward and fell 300 meters below the road.

The people were returning from Rangayung Outreach Clinic where they had gone to vaccinate their children and undergo pregnancy check up.