Kurseong, March 9: Five persons died and 13 were injured when a Commander jeep travelling on a single-lane hill road plunged 1,000ft into a gorge near Sittong Bustee around 8.30 last night.

The vehicle (registration number WB 77 6095) was travelling from Siliguri to Mana, a small village after Sittong located around 35km from here. It had taken the narrow road after turning left from NH31A.

“It went off the road at 6th Mile near Sittong and fell into a 1,000ft gorge,” said police.

The five persons who died have been identified as P.R. Rai (64), D.B. Gurung (47) and N.P. Gurung (59) — all residents of Sittong Bustee — and Shanti Gurung (44) and Kumari Khawas (17) of Mana.

Khawas is said to be a student.

The bodies were brought to Kurseong Subdivisional Hospital this morning and were released in the afternoon after post-mortem, a source in the hospital said.

Residents of Sittong, who came to the rescue of the passengers took the injured to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) in Siliguri and Kalimpong Subdivisional Hospital, which is also located around 35km from the spot.

The driver of the vehicle is among the eight who are under treatment at NBMCH, while the rest are at Kalimpong Subdivisional Hospital.

The cause of the accident is not yet known, but some residents of Sittong Bustee blamed it on the deplorable state of roads in the area.

“The condition of the road has become very bad over the last couple of years, making it difficult for drivers to negotiate the turns. The road is such that there is just enough space for one vehicle to fit in,” Kamal Rasaily, who was at the accident spot yesterday, said over the phone from Sittong today.