At least 14 people died after a pickup truck carrying voters veered off the road at Panchamul Arkhalabas in Waling Municipality-14, Syangja, on Friday. Eleven others were injured, some critically, in the accident.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Rabindra Khanal, there were 25 people on board the vehicle when the fatal crash occurred at around 10:30am. The jeep swerved off the road and plunged around 500 metres below.

Security personnel and the local residents rescued the victims and took them to Waling Primary Health Centre, where 14 were pronounced dead on arrival. Police identified the deceased as Maya Pun (63), Kuldip Kunwar (50), Dem Kumari Kunwar (50), Harikala Kunwar (86), Tekkala Kunwar (50), Jamuna Kunwar (25), Bhimkala Kunwar (70), Muwa Kumari Kunwar (70), Pota Kumari Kunwar (43), Januka Kunwar (43), Gyandali Kunwar (42), Mina Kunwar (50), Phuldevi Kunwar, whose age is yet to be ascertained, and a nine-year-old boy.

All the deceased and the injured are residents of Arkhalabas settlement. They were heading towards the local polling centre to cast vote for a villager who is contesting for the post of ward chairman. Twelve of the 14 deceased are women.

According to the locals, the vehicle was carrying the village’s women and elderly to the polling centre.

The District Police Office in Syangja stated that 10 seriously injured people were rushed to Gandaki Medical College in Pokhara while one is receiving treatment at Waling.

“I was in the vehicle with my grandmother and aunt. I jumped off after the driver lost control of the vehicle,” said Kushal Kunwar, aged 16, who is receiving treatment at Gandaki Medical College in Pokhara.

According to Puran Kunwar, a local resident, the driver lost control of the vehicle as it was carrying people beyond its capacity. He said some people jumped off the vehicle and survived the accident.