Himachal Pradesh: Rockslide crushes tourist taxi, kills driver

MANALI: A taxi driver was killed while a family of five tourists from Maharashtra had a narrow escape after a boulder crushed the car near Aut in Mandi district on Chandigarh-Manali national highway on Sunday evening.
The car was on the way from Mandi to Manali and was carrying five tourists. When it reached near Aut, it met with the accident. The loose boulders from mountain face collapsed and hit the ill-fated car running on the highway.A boulder that fell on the car damaged its roof and crushed the driver who died on the spot. Fortunately, the tourists were not hurt in the incident.
The driver was identified as Manohar Lal (29), resident of Baijnath in Kangra district of Himachal.
Mandi superintendent of police Gurdev Chand Sharma said deceased was identified from the driving license. “The tourists were from Maharashtra and are safe. They returned back towards Mandi,” he said.
The four-laning and double-laning of the national highway has made traveling unsafe between Mandi and Manali. The roadsides have been excavated exorbitantly and rocks and debris are falling on the highway.