BHADERWAH: Three labourers were dead and five others critically injured when the vehicle they were travelling in skidded off the road and plunged into a deep gorge in Dod district of Jammu and Kashmir, police officials said on Saturday.

The labourers boarded the vehicle at Khellani and were on the way to their homes in Marmat area, the officials said.

They said the vehicle met with the accident near Humbal village around 10.40 pm Friday, prompting a rescue operation by local volunteers and police.

Three labourers Mani Kumar (31), Karan Jeet Singh (40) and Lal Chand (45) were found dead by the rescuers on-the-spot, they said.

Five others were rescued in an injured condition and are undergoing treatment in government medical college hospital Doda.