By SENT TIMBI
SIX people — three men and three women — are confirmed dead after their vehicle plunged 700m down the steep Baiyer Gorge, about 60kms outside Mt Hagen in the Mul Baiyer Lumusa district of the Western Highlands province, yesterday.
Another two people, a young pastor and a woman, are fighting for their lives in the intensive care unit of the Mt Hagen General Hospital.
An eye witness at the scene of the accident Pik Oitt told The National at the hospital that the six passengers were killed instantly at the point of impact, including the driver of the vehicle.
He said the vehicle, a 10-seater Toyota Land cruiser, carrying eight passengers was headed for Mt Hagen when it ran off the road at about 1:30pm yesterday and plunged into the bank of the Paiya River.
Mr Oitt said he was among a group of nearby villagers who rushed down the gorge to offer help but were greeted only with a scene of death and destruction.
He said the vehicle appeared to have been driven at high speed and the driver may have lost control of the vehicle and it veered off the road and into the gorge.
The driver was identified as Paul Sol from the Kimba tribe in the Dei District outside Mt Hagen, while the other five deceased and the two severely injured are from the Baiyer district of the Western Highlands province.
Police are investigating the incident.

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