Three people were killed, and one went missing after a Bolero jeep plunged down a slope on Friday evening in ward 4 of Shubha Kalika Rural Municipality, along the under-construction Seri-Pantadi road in Kalikot district.

Police said the jeep was a hired vehicle operating under contractor Arjun Gautam, who is overseeing the road construction. The bodies of the three victims were recovered near the Tila river, about 300 metres below the road.

District Police Chief Him Bahadur Khatri and the municipality’s Chief Administrative Officer Gokarnaraj Suyal visited the site after the accident. Authorities said the search for the missing passenger was hampered by steep terrain and darkness.

“Three bodies have been recovered,” Khatri said. “We are continuing the search for the missing person, and the identities of the deceased have yet to be ascertained.”