Nine of family die as vehicle falls into Ganga

DANAPUR At least nine members of a family, of them four women and three children, died and six others were missing after a vehicle carrying 15 passengers fell into river Ganga at Danapur in the state capital Friday morning

DANAPUR

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At least nine members of a family, of them four women and three children, died and six others were missing after a vehicle carrying 15 passengers fell into river Ganga at Danapur in the state capital Friday morning.

The incident took place at Purani-Panapur ghat under Danapur subdivision around 7:30 am.

Police said the vehicle, a jeep, coming from Akilpur village to Chitrakoot Nagar in Danapur, plunged into the river from the dilapidated pontoon bridge when the driver, said to be inebriated, lost control.

The occupants of the vehicles were returning after attending wedding ceremony of one Rakesh Kumar Singh.

“Nine bodies have been fished out of the river. Search and rescue operations are under way to rescue five to six persons reported to be missing. The rescue operations are on with the help of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams,” said Sonepur’s deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Anjani Kumar.

Patna district magistrate Chandasekhar Singh said two persons, including the jeep driver, swam to safety. He also announced an ex-gratia of ₹4 lakh each for the next of kin of the dead.

The DM has ordered a probe and sought a report from Danapur administration.

Patliputra MP Ram Kripal Yadav, former BJP MLA Asha Sinha and RJD MLA Ritlal Yadav also reached the accident spot and supervised rescue operations.

Ram Kripal Yadav said he was at the spot for nearly two hours to oversee rescue efforts being carried out by an NDRF team.

NDRF’s 9th Battalion assistant commandant (Bihta) Binay Kumar said the vehicle had been pulled out of the river with the help of a crane.

Meanwhile, chief minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief over the incident.