Car Falls Into Gorge Near Jainti, Two Dead, One Injured
On Sunday morning near Jainti, Almora, a Swift car veered off-road and fell into a gorge. Two passengers died—one on the spot, one at the hospital—while a 19-year-old was seriously injured.
You never know when a normal morning turns into a nightmare. Around 9:30 AM on Sunday, June 8, 2025, a Swift car travelling from Bakswad to Jwarnedi in Almora lost control and plunged into a deep gorge near Jainti. What should have been a short, routine journey turned into a tragic incident claiming two lives and leaving one young man injured.
The car—bearing registration number DL 2CAN 2385—was navigating the narrow, winding roads of the hill region when it suddenly slipped off the edge near Jwarnedi. The impact was brutal. Inside the vehicle were three individuals: Pan Singh Bisht (37), Mehrban Singh Karayat (57), and Rahul Rai (19). By the time help arrived, one of them was already gone.
Upon receiving the report, Lamgada police moved swiftly. With support from local villagers, a rescue operation was carried out to retrieve the victims from the gorge. Pan Singh Bisht had died on the spot. Mehrban Singh was found critically injured and rushed to the hospital—where he, too, was declared dead by doctors. Rahul Rai, the youngest of the three, survived but was injured. He was transported to a hospital in the station’s government vehicle and is currently under medical care.
The deceased have been identified as Pan Singh Bisht, son of the late Shiv Singh from village Bakswad, and Mehrban Singh Karayat, son of the late Jagat Singh from village Surchaura. Both villages fall under the Jainti outpost, Lamgada police station, Almora district. The injured Rahul Rai is also from Bakswad.
The police team acted promptly and included Sub-Inspector Rahul Rathi (Station In-Charge, Lamgada), Sub-Inspector Manoj Kumar (In-Charge, Moranola Outpost), Sub-Inspector Dinesh Parihar (In-Charge, Jainti Outpost), Head Constables Narendra Yadav and Sanjay Kumar, and Constables Vinod Kumar, Bishan Singh, and Diwan Singh Bora. All of them were involved in the rescue and follow-up response.
The incident has cast a pall of gloom over the region. Families shattered, dreams ended mid-journey, and a teen now fights for recovery—all in a matter of minutes. For locals, this serves as a grim reminder of the dangers of mountain driving—where one misjudgment, one patch of gravel, or one missed turn can cost everything.
Post-mortem procedures are now underway for the deceased, and official documentation is in process. Back in their villages, grief runs deep. There are no answers to the many "what ifs." Could the accident have been avoided? Could the brakes have worked better? Could someone have seen it coming? These questions now echo through empty homes, with silence too loud to bear.
