10 family members killed in an accident in Punjab

Ten family members have been killed when their overloaded car fell into a drain in Punjab.

Ten members of a family, including seven children, were killed when their overloaded car fell into a drain in Tarn Taran district of Punjab, 80 km from Amritsar.

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The Maruti Alto car had three adults, including two women, sitting on the front seat of the car, while seven children were on the rear seat.

The accident occurred late Friday night when the car driver failed to negotiate a curve on a road near Buchhar Kalan village in Tarn Taran, a district on the border with Pakistan.

Instead of taking the curve that would have led to a bridge, the car went straight into a drain that was full of water.

A relative of the victims, who was going ahead on a motorcycle, stopped when he did not see the car following him. He alerted the residents of a nearby village through the public address system of a gurdwara.

Police officials who reached the spot said all the people in the car had died before the villagers could rescue them.

Two of the children who died in the accident were earlier travelling on the motorcycle. They were moved to the car just minutes before the accident, as it was cold outside.

The family was returning home after attending a gathering of relatives in another village.