Five of family die as car rams tree

The deceased have been identified as Jagwanti Lather (65),her son Sandeep (21) — both residents of Panchkula,Lather’s son-in-law Ashok and his two children Akanksha and Ansh — all residents of Rohtak.

The injured include Lather’s daughters Sunil and Suman and Suman’s daughter Akshita.

The family started from Vaishno Devi late last night and was on its way to Panchkula,when the accident took place. The family had left for Vaishno Devi on Friday morning

According to the police,Ashok was driving the vehicle. “When they reached near Dasua village,Hoshiarpur,a cyclist came in the vehicle’s way on the highway. While trying to save the cyclist,Ashok lost the balance of the vehicle,which rammed into a tree on the roadside. The injured and deceased were taken out of the wreckage by the residents and rushed to a local hospital in Hoshiarpur,from where the injured were referred to Panchkula hospital,” a police officer told Newsline at Panchkula Civil Hospital.

Later,bodies of the deceased were brought to Civil Hospital,Panchkula from Hoshiarpur hospital.

While Suman and Akshita are admitted at Government Hospital,Panchkula; Sunil was referred to Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh.

Entire family affected,only neighbours mourn
CHANDIGARH: Since nearly all members of Jagwanti Lather’s family were either killed or injured in the accident,only neighbours and friends were there in the hospital to attend to the family. “We have informed Lather about the mishap. He is on his way from Bhubaneshwar and might reach Panchkula tomorrow. We are their neighbour and reached here after we received the shocking news in the morning,” said Ashwani Kumar,a resident of Mansa Devi Complex,Panchkula.