Lucknow: At least seven children were feared drowned and 22 others persons rescued after a pick-up van in which they were travelling plunged into the Indira canal near here, district officials said Thursday.
The van carrying 29 people fell into the canal in Nagram area on the city’s outskrits during wee hours of Thursday, Lucknow District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said.
Search teams managed to fish out bodies of three children out of seven feared drowned in a canal in which a pick-up van they were travelling in plunged.
The vehicle carrying 29 people returning from a wedding function plunged into the Indira Canal in Nagram area on the outskirts of city at around 3 am, said Lucknow District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma.
Twenty people were rescued earlier, he added. Out of the seven children, who went missing bodies of three were fished out by divers of the NDRF and SDRF, he added. “A hunt is on to trace the remaining four children,” the district magistrate told PTI. The bodies are yet to be identified, he added.
The passengers were returning from a marriage ceremony in neighbouring Barabanki district.
While 22 of them were rescued, seven children were missing even 12 hours after the mishap occurred, officials said.
“As many as seven children, all in the age-group of 5-10 years, are missing. They might have been washed away in the rapid current of the water in the canal…rescue operations are on,” Sharma, who rushed to the site, told PTI.
Meanwhile, a large crowd of onlookers gathered at the place of the accident where parents of some of the missing children accused the driver of the pick-up van of being under the influence of alcohol. One of the aggrieved parents, Lajjawati, said, “The driver of the van was under the influence of alcohol and was driving at a high speed when he overshot a bend and the van hurtled down the canal.”
She said some of the passengers had repeatedly asked him to slow down, but he ignored their plea leading to the accident. Sub-divisional magistrate of Mohanlalganj tehsil, Suryakant, said, “The allegation that the driver was under the influence of alcohol is being examined. (PTI)
