Lucknow: Seven children are feared dead in an accident in which a SUV carrying 29 people fell into a canal here on Thursday morning.
All the passengers were returning from a marriage function when the driver lost control over the vehicle and plunged into the Indira Canal in Nagram area on the outskirts of the state capital around 3.a.m.
Locals rescued 22 adults while there was no trace of the children — Sachin, 6, Sunny, 5, Sajan, 8, Saurabh, 8, Aman, 9, Mansi, 4, and Manisha, 4.
A team of NDRF has been deployed for the rescue operation and divers have been pressed into service.
Inspector General range Lucknow SK Bhagat said that the strong flow of the canal was making rescue operations difficult. He said that efforts were being made to regulate the flow of the waters so that divers can continue the rescue operations.
He said that the districts downstream had been asked to put nets into the canal so that if the children had been swept away by the currents, they could be recovered.
"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," Lucknow District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma who rushed to the site was quoted as saying by PTI.
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.
Meanwhile, one of the aggrieved parents 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."
Sub-divisional magistrate of Mohanlalganj tehsil, Suryakant, said, "The allegation that the driver was under the influence of alcohol is being examined. He has been sent for medical examination to establish whether he had consumed alcohol."
Even the district magistrate said that the vehicle was moving at a fast speed when it fell into the canal.
He said the vehicle has been retrieved and a technical examination will establish the actual reason behind the accident.
"Whether the driver was in an inebriated state is not known. In fact, the driver did not run away and rather helped in rescuing the passengers," Sharma said.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken cognizance of the incident and has ordered all assistances in rescue operations. Immediately on getting the news of the tragedy, directed senior police officials and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and SDRF personnel to speed up the rescue operations, a statement issued by the UP government said.
With Inputs from PTI
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