Ranit Kr. Singh , Kolkata – A devastating accident on National Highway 10 ended in tragedy on Sunday morning when rescue teams recovered the bodies of four family members trapped inside their vehicle from the Teesta riverbed. The victims, identified as Sabya Niupane, Smrika Niupane, Tika Maya Dahal, and five-year-old Ditya Chhetri, had gone missing on Friday afternoon while driving from Gangtok to Siliguri. The family’s black Tata Nexon car was struck by a sudden landslide triggered by heavy monsoon rains in the Bhelabari area, forcing the vehicle off the road and plunging it into the swollen river gorge below.

A massive, joint search operation launched on Saturday morning by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), West Bengal Police, and the Sikkim administration initially uncovered only fragmented car parts along the treacherous riverbank. Operation leaders intensified efforts at daybreak on Sunday, deploying specialized rescue divers into the rough waters to locate the submerged wreckage near Kalibari. The bodies of the deceased have since been transported to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital for mandatory post-mortem examinations, spotlighting the severe, ongoing dangers of landslides impacting commuters on this vital mountain highway.

Providing details on the breakthrough, Ajay Kumar, Commandant of the North Bengal Disaster Response Team, stated, "Searches were being conducted since yesterday. The rescue operation was suspended at night. The rescue operation was resumed in the morning. Divers were sent down. The bodies of the deceased were recovered from the car in front of Kalibari."