Accident: A 45-year-old woman died on the way to hospital after she was hit by shooting stones in Yangmalashing chiwog in Decheling gewog on May 16.

The woman and her father were walking to Nganglam, about three hours walk away, when the incident occurred.

The village tshogpa said they started from home around 6:30am and the incident occurred around 8am near Bongbongla village.

The father, a lay monk, was on his way to his sister in law’s home for a ritual, and his daughter had accompanied him to attend to her sick aunt.

The father had noticed boulders rolling down to the road and, when a huge boulder rolled off, it sent a pile of stones down that pushed the woman off the road.

The tshogpa said she was found near the riverbank. “Since it’s a thick forest and slippery, the father couldn’t go after her. He walked for about an hour to reach the river bank,” the tshogpa said. “He found her lying faced down covered with stones.”

The father quickly pulled her out and called one of the villagers, who later informed the tshogpa.

“We reached around 9am and she was still breathing,” he said. “Her limbs were broken and her head was injured.”

When they could not carry her, they called a few more villagers for help.  But she died before they could carry her up to the road point and head for the hospital, the tshogpa said.

The tshogpa said it had rained the previous night, which might have loosened the earth and caused the boulders to roll off.

Although this is the first case, the area is known for frequent shooting stones and boulders rolling down the road.

The case was reported to the police, who visited the area with the health officials.  The body was handed over to the family the same day.

By Yangchen C Rinzin,  Samdrupjongkhar