Four youths were killed late Friday night when the speeding car they were travelling in plunged into a river in Bihar’s Madhepura district. While the bodies of three were recovered, the search operation for the fourth was underway until late on Saturday, the police said.
All the deceased were in their 20s, the police said.
The tragic accident occurred under the Arar police station in Madhepura when the four friends were returning from Gwalpara after visiting a Ram Navami fair. They were travelling in a car and, according to police, were doing a Facebook Live stream at the time of the accident.
Police said the driver could not negotiate the car’s speed, and it hit the railing of the Arar Bridge on NH-106, plunging 20 feet into the Sursar river. “The speed was over 140 km/hour at the time of the accident, and the driver lost control of the vehicle, leading to its collision with the bridge’s railing. It was a severe crash and the four-wheeler fell off the bridge into the river,” the police said.
“Three recovered bodies have been identified as Ghanshyam Kumar (28), a resident of Madhepura, Ankit Kumar (26), and Basant Kumar (23), both residents of Saharsa. They were friends and job aspirants. The fourth person identified as Sagar Kumar is still missing and the search operation is underway to find him,” the police said, adding that they had sent the three bodies to the hospital for postmortem.
{{/usCountry}}“Three recovered bodies have been identified as Ghanshyam Kumar (28), a resident of Madhepura, Ankit Kumar (26), and Basant Kumar (23), both residents of Saharsa. They were friends and job aspirants. The fourth person identified as Sagar Kumar is still missing and the search operation is underway to find him,” the police said, adding that they had sent the three bodies to the hospital for postmortem.
{{/usCountry}}“Prima facie it appears that the driver lost control over the car while navigating the road, crashed into the railing of the bridge and an electric pole and later plunged into the river,” Gyananad Amarendra, station house officer (SHO) of Arar police station told HT over the phone. However, the police also suspect that it was a case of drunk driving.
“We can’t rule out the possibility of drunken driving behind the tragic accident as the video just before the accident suggests they were under the influence of liquor and were virtually dancing inside the car to the tune of vulgar Bhojpuri songs,” police sources said, admitting, “Drunken driving is quite usual as youths have become crazy for liquor and drugs.”
On January 17, four youths, all friends, were killed when a speeding hyva truck hit the car on NH-106 under Sadar police station while they were returning from a private hospital in the district.