HYDERABAD: Personnel of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Saturday began search for six persons who were feared drowned when the car in which they were travelling fell into the Left Canal of Nagarjuna Sagar Project in Telangana”s Suryapet district, police said.
The incident occurred on Friday night in Chakirala village of Nadigudem block when the person driving the car apparently lost control and the vehicle fell off the bridge into the canal.
The six were identified as Abdul Aziz, 45, Rajesh, 29, Santhosh Kumar, 23, Pavan Kumar, 23, Naresh, 55, and Johnson, 33.
Police said the chance of any of them surviving was bleak.
“On the night of October 18, six persons in a Scorpio car were returning to Hyderabad after attending a marriage function at Kodad area. Upon reaching the Chakirala village of Nadigudam Mandal, Suryapet district, the driver of the car lost control and the car rammed into a water canal which is connected to the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam,” Superintendent of Police (SP), Bhaskaran told ANI over the phone.
“As the flow of water was high, the car started drifting with it, all the six occupants of the car are missing as of now. We have launched a rescue operation with the help of local fishermen,” he added.
All of them were employees of a private hospital in Hyderabad and were returning to the city after attending the marriage of their colleague in Suryapet district.
A group of five employees coming in another car were alerted by local residents about the accident.
Due to darkness and heavy flow of water authorities could not take up rescue work. A team of NDRF launched the search operation Saturday morning with a boat and other equipment.
The car was spotted at about half a kilometre from the bridge. However, the search continued for its occupants. District Collector Ameya Kumar was supervising search operations.
Upon hearing of the accident, the family members of the missing persons reached the spot and are urging the authorities to escalate the rescue efforts.