Dharamshala, Sep 3 (UNI) At least eight women were killed and 19 injured, two of them seriously, after their truck veered off the road and fell into a gorge in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh today, Nurpur DSP Kishan Chand said.

The truck with 27 people on board, fell into a gorge at Katal near Khajian, about 50 km from here, on the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway at about 1630 hrs, he told UNI from Nurpur.

He said the vehicle, ferrying Radha Swami devotees from Paroor to Indora in the district met with an accident in which eight were killed on the spot and another succumbed to her injuries in the hospital.

The seriously injured were referred to a government hospital at Pathankot, while the others were undergoing treatment at Civil Hospital in Nurpur, he said, adding that 17 out of the 19 injured were women.

Mr Chand said the accident occurred as the driver failed to negotiate a sharp curve following which the vehicle fell into a gorge.

The dead and the injured have been identified and the district administration would announce immediate cash relief to them soon, he said.

A case has been registered and investigations are on.

UNI