IAS officer, wife among four killed in Ladakh road mishap

A senior IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh government and his wife were among four persons killed when their vehicle plunged into a gorge in frontier Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, official sources said.

Three others -- an IPS officer and his wife, and an IAS probationer -- were injured when their vehicle skidded off the road and fell into a 300-mt deep gorge at Khardungla Pass, the highest motorable road in the world, at around 9.30 am, they said.

The group of senior officers from MP along with their family members were on a pleasure trip to Nobra valley and were on way to Leh when the mishap occurred.

In the accident, Commissioner Madhya Pradesh Industrial Board, Dharma Rao, his wife Vidya Rao and two others died, while Inspector General vigilance, Bhopal, Ashok Awasthi, his wife Manjoori Awasthi and a probationary IAS officer Shivindra Singh were injured, they said.

The two other deceased were identified as Kumet Singh, a woman, and cab driver Chemet Dorjay, a resident of Kargil district of Ladakh, the sources said.