Ramban, July 13 -- Five people were killed and another was critically injured when a private passenger vehicle skidded off the road and plunged into a 600-feet gorge in Ramban district, officials said on Saturday.

The SUV met with the accident near Senabathi in Ukhral Pogal Paristan area late Friday, they said.

Rescuers found one of the passengers Tauqeer Ahmad (20) dead at the spot while five other critically injured people were rushed to a hospital but three of them - Mohammad Rafiq (40), Abdul Latief (40) and Ajaz Ahmad (20) - succumbed to their injuries enroute.

Shakeel Ahmad (24) breathed his last at a hospital in Srinagar this morning while the condition of Yawar Ahmad (25), the lone survivor, remains critical.

Lt Governor Manoj...