Two among 8 missing as SUV falls in Ganga

Police said that after nearly 20 hours, a team of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), managed to pull out the SUV from the river on Monday.

Two persons are still missing after an SUV with eight people on board fell into the Ganga river at Patna’s Jethuli ghat Sunday evening, police said, adding that six people managed to swim to safety.

According to police, the eight people on board the SUV were part of a marriage party and were on their way to Raghopur in the Vaishali district.

According to police, the incident occurred around 9 pm while the SUV was ferried on a boat to Vaishali.

Police said that after nearly 20 hours, a team of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), managed to pull out the SUV from the river on Monday.

“No one was found inside the vehicle,” said NDRF inspector Manoj Kumar.

According to police, the eight people on board the SUV were part of a marriage party and were on their way to Raghopur in the Vaishali district. “As a pontoon bridge connecting the two places had been dismantled recently due to increase in water level in the Ganga, the marriage party and the vehicles were being ferried across the river by boats. Soon after the SUV was loaded on a boat, the vehicle lost balance and drowned,” police said.

“The search operation had to be stopped due to darkness. A rescue team is trying to trace the two missing persons,” said Rajesh Kumar Manjhi, Fathua deputy superintendent of police (DSP).