Shillong, June 17: A jeep transporting 10 people from Badarpur in Cachar to Guwahati fell into a deep gorge near Sonapur in Jaintia Hills in the wee hours today, killing seven passengers, including two women and two children, on the spot and injuring three others.

Those killed included six members of a family. The driver, Ravi Raut, however, escaped with minor injuries.

According to police, the passengers included the staff of the Badarpurghat-based plant of the Barak Valley Cements Limited.

The jeep fell into the gorge after the driver lost control of the vehicle around 4am today at Tongseng Narpuh near Sonapur in Jaintia Hills.

The injured were shifted to the Khliehriat community health centre.

The deceased have been identified as Santosh Kumar Jha, 33, his wife, Nilam Devi, 30, their two sons, Monit, 6, and Ronit, 3, Sanjay Jha, 36, his wife Dolly Jha, 28, and Sankar Telangi, 25, a friend of the Jha family.

Sanjay Jha’s son, Vivek Jha, 8, and daughter Anchal Jha, 6, were critically injured.

Santosh and Sanjay Jha were employees of the Barak Valley Cements Limited and were on their way to Guwahati to catch a train to Bihar.

In another incident, an 18-year-old youth, identified as R. Suresh of Umulong village, died on the spot after being run over by a tipper truck on the premises of the Star Cement plant in Lumshnong village in Jaintia Hills this afternoon.

Moreover, two women labourers were electrocuted at Ladrymbai on Rymbai Road this afternoon after the truck in which they were travelling came in contact with a 11KV high tension electric wire. They have been identified as Ester Dkhar, 31, and Ribhamika Surong, 26, of Rymbai village in Jaintia Hills.

The Sonapur stretch of the National Highway often proves treacherous for vehicles, as many major accidents have been reported there in the past.

Accidents are even more frequent during the monsoon as visibility is low and the road slippery because of incessant rain and fog.

Several accidents also occur in the early morning hours because of various factors including drink driving and sleepiness.

On December 18, 2009, eight persons were killed and more than 20 injured when an Agartala-bound night passenger bus plunged into a river at Sonapur. The mishap occurred after the driver lost control of the vehicle around 3.45am.

Besides Sonapur, areas like Ratacherra in the district have also become accident-prone.

On May 30, a youth from Tripura was killed and six others injured when a Tripura-bound bus fell into a gorge at Ratacherra in the wee hours.

A police officer said drivers should be extra careful during the rainy season as visibility is low and the roads are slippery and treacherous.

Reckless and drink driving was also a cause for concern and this needed to be controlled at all costs, he said, adding that special programmes were also required to make drivers aware about the hazards of drink driving and rash driving.