Five youths drown as car plunges into Narmada canal in Bodeli

Fire officials with the help of locals fish out the car after the mishap. (Source: Express archives)

Just a day after five youths from Petlad drowned in the Narmada canal, five more boys belonging to Alhadpura village in Chhota Udepur district drowned there. They were on their way to worship the Hatini Mata temple near Pavagadh when they lost control of the car they were in and plunged into the canal near Bodeli.

After several hours of rescue operations, the car was retrieved by fire officials, but the boys could not be saved. The five identified as Aakash Patel, Snehal Patel, Vishal Patel, Kalpik Patel and Prakash Patel were cousins and were on their way to the temple after family celebrations of Raksha bandhan on Sunday morning. As they approached Bodeli, the driver lost control and the car nose-dived into the Narmada canal running parallel to the road. While the locals who witnessed the accident immediately called in the fire officials, the car  could not be retrieved for several hours. The loss of the five youths on the day of Raksha Bandhan has come a day after five boys from Palaj in Petlad drowned in a similar manner in the Narmada canal on Saturday.

A fire official from the district said, “We had to pull the car out with much difficulty as the canal is inclined and the vehicle was packed. The youths may have been unable to escape from the sinking car as the doors appeared jammed. They could not be saved.”