india

Updated: Jul 10, 2019 21:01 IST

At least three persons, including two tourists from Rajasthan and a driver, were feared dead when their vehicle plunged into the swollen Teesta River in the Darjeeling hills Wednesday afternoon.

The SUV was going to Gangtok in Sikkim from Bagdogra airport when it went off the road and fell into the river near Coronation Bridge, about 23 km from Siliguri.

“The Teesta is in spate and rescue teams including National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), state’s disaster management personnel and local people are trying to trace the vehicle,” said Amaranth K, superintendent of police, Darjeeling.

The missing tourists were identified as Aman Gaur (26) and Gourav Sharma (24) according to information from the travel agency that arranged the vehicle.

Rakesh Rai (34) a resident of Bhanu Nagar, Siliguri, was the driving the SUV.

A police officer engaged in the rescue operation said, “When contacted in Rajasthan, the family members claimed that there were three tourists in the car.” The officer said the tourists were from Kota in Rajasthan.

The number plate of the car and a suitcase were recovered from the accident site.

Incessant rain over the past few days have triggered landslides in Darjeeling hills and roads to Sikkim were damaged at several places.

Early on Monday morning, two persons were buried in landslides which destroyed their house at Pubung Phatak in Darjeeling.

On October 1 last year, a 55-year old tourist Kalpana Asok Rathi, a resident of Amravati in Maharashtra, was drowned while rafting in the Teesta in Kalimpong district.