5 killed, 2 injured in road accident in Ladakh      

Five people were killed and two critically injured after two vehicles collided head-on, before plunging into a 500-foot-deep gorge near here, along the Srinagar-Leh national highway, in the Union Territory of Ladakh, police said.

The accident took place at Katpakasa, near Shilikchay, around 1 pm, they said, adding that the vehicles involved were a Drass-bound Mahindra Scorpio and a load carrier coming towards Kargil.

The two vehicles collided head-on and rolled down into the gorge, police said, adding that five people were killed on the spot while rescuers evacuated two critically-injured persons to a hospital.

Both the vehicles have turned into mangled iron following the accident, causing hardships for the rescuers to retrieve the bodies, they said.