Nagpur: A car, carrying five Nagpur youths, was swept away by the strong currents of the Katta River in the Junnardeo area of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday afternoon. Four youths managed to swim to safety, but a youth was swept away with the vehicle and was missing till late evening. The five youths were residents of Nagpur’s Nandanvan area, a report in a local daily said.
According to police, the car was crossing a bridge over the Katta River when it was caught in the powerful current. The bridge was reportedly inundated with floodwaters. Despite the dangerous conditions, the driver attempted to proceed.
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Saturday 23 Nov. 2024
As the car reached the middle of the bridge, it began to drift with the flow of the river. Four of the youths managed to escape the vehicle and swim to safety. However, one youth, identified as Shailesh Kushwah, was swept away along with the car. Kushwah, who is a salesman, remains missing. The other passengers in the car have been identified as Milind Parate, Ketan Dekate, Vikram Atav, and Nikhil Somkuwar.
Emergency services and local authorities have mobilized a rescue operation. Divers conducted a search operation in the flooded Katta River for both the missing youth and the car. Eyewitnesses reported that the bridge was severely affected by the flooding, and the high flow of water made the situation extremely perilous. The car’s attempt to cross the bridge under these conditions proved disastrous.
After following Google Maps to take a short-cut, the five friends friends from Nagpur’s Nandanvan area, driving to Nagdwar pilgrimage in Madhya Pradesh’s Pachmarhi hills, made the blunder of trying to cross a low bridge with the Katta river waters flowing over it on Sunday at around 7.15 am.
SP, Chhindwada, Manish Khatri said the driver had taken a decision to follow Google Maps and ended up taking an interior road, where the bridge was submerged in flood water. “The road taken was not the regular one to Nagdwar but offered a shorter distance as per Google Maps. This road is otherwise avoided for this journey,” said Khatri, who was supervising the rescue operation with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and local Damua police station.
Kushwah and others had left Nagpur on Saturday, and stopped for dinner at a roadside dhaba. The group reached the Katta river bridge early on Sunday morning. The bridge was already under water with a strong current.
