DOTI, August 5: Nine people, including seven from two families, died when a jeep (registration number S 1 J 491) headed for Chautara from Dipayal met with an accident at Kataigaun of Botgan Rural Municipality in Doti district Friday night. Seven others were injured in the accident. Two of them are critical. 

Eight of the deceased are from the same village, Chapartola, Simchaur. Among them, seven are from two families. 

Bir Bahadur Gharti Magar, who has been admitted at Sujang Hospital, lost four of his family members in the accident. Bir Bahadur's father Buddhisingh, uncle Gorakh and his two brothers Chandra Bahadur and Bishnu Bahadur died in the accident. 

Similarly, three family members of Nar Bahadur Pun Magar died in the accident. His grandfather Tek Bahadur, mother Lalita Devi and uncle Shashiram Bahadur died, while his father Dal Bahadur was critically injured. Nar Bahadur who has received severe injuries in the head told that he saved himself by jumping off the jeep. He is receiving treatment at Nepalgunj hospital. 

Another deceased is 55-year-old Bhim Bahadur Gharti Magr. His nephew Prakash Gharti Magar was injured and is receiving treatment at Sujang Hospital. Similarly, another deceased is the jeep driver Bishnu Negi, a resident of Shikhar Municipality. 

Injured taken to hospital after 14 hours

The injured were admitted at the hospital 14 hours after the accident. A joint team of police and locals had reached the accident site at 1 am, while the accident took place at around 10 pm. They arrived at Sujang Hospital at 12 am on Saturday. 

The rescue vehicle was stuck on the way for sometime due to landslides at K I Singh Rural Municipality-1. From Dipayal, another jeep was sent to rescue the injured. According to DSP Shiva Kumar Singh, chief of the Doti District Police Office, the injured could not be taken to the hospital on time due to the rough road and landslides. 

Among the injured, Harka Bahadur and Dal Bahadur have been referred to Nepalgunj for further treatment. Others are receiving treatment at Sujang Hospital. 

According to injured Nar Bahadur, the accident took place due to the driver's negligence. “I was sitting next to the driver. He was driving very carelessly,” he said, “In fact, the jeep had nearly slipped off the road twice before the accident,” he added. 

Police, too, have blamed careless driving for the accident. According to DSP Singh, investigation into the accident is underway. “It seems that the driver was drunk. Further investigation into the accident is underway,” he said.

Post-mortem at the accident site  
     
 The post-mortem of those who died on the spot was carried out at the accident site. Since the accident site is quite distant from the district headquarters, a team of doctors was sent to the accident site for the post-mortem, said Chief District Officer Kumar Bahadur Khadka. “It was very difficult to bring the dead bodies to the district headquarters. So, we decided to conduct the post-mortem at the accident site,” said Khadka. 

 
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