Ten people died and 17 others were injured, three critically, in a passenger jeep accident at ward 6 of Tinau Rural Municipality in Palpa district on Tuesday.

The jam-packed vehicle was heading for Shikhar Danda from Dumre when the fatal accident happened. The jeep swerved off the road from a bend in Lumpekdanda and plunged some 150 metres below.

According to Raj Kumar Chapagain, chief at the District Traffic Police Office, seven women and three men were killed in the crash. Eight people died on the spot while two died during treatment, he added.

The security personnel and the locals rescued the victims and rushed them to the medical facilities. "All the injured are receiving treatment at Lumbini Medical College in Prabhas," said Superintendent of Police Heramba Sharma. According to him, a two-month-old child has been taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit while two other injured are now in the Intensive Care Unit.

According to Dinesh Ghimire, a local involved in rescue work, most of the deceased and injured are from Chidis and Shikhardanda.

The road where the accident took place is rough and steep. Driver Dan Bahadur Chidi said the vehicle moved backwards in the bend and veered off the road.

The accident happened apparently due to overload. The 13-seater jeep was carrying passengers far beyond its capacity. Bhabindra Gautam, chief of Shreenagar Transportation Entrepreneurs' Company Limited, admitted that the jeep was carrying passengers beyond its capacity.