Car falls into Zuari river in Goa, 4 killed

The deceased were identified as Prescilla D’cruz, former block president of the Congress party from Loutolim in South Goa, her husband Henry Araujo and his brother Olvin Araujo and their neighbour Austin Fernandes -- all residents of Loutolim.

The incident took place at about 1 am early Thursday when the car bound for Panaji was crossing the bridge over the Zuari river, an important connector between North and South Goa. (Express Photo)

A car, which skid off the road and plunged into the Zuari River in Goa early Thursday, was retrieved after a five-hour rigorous rescue operation with the bodies of a woman and three men.

The deceased were identified as Prescilla D’cruz, former block president of the Congress party from Loutolim in South Goa, her husband Henry Araujo and his brother Olvin Araujo and their neighbour Austin Fernandes — all residents of Loutolim.

The car rammed into the railing, broke it and fell into the water. (Express Photo)

The incident took place at about 1 am early Thursday when the car bound for Panaji was crossing the bridge over the Zuari river, an important connector between North and South Goa.

The car rammed into the railing, broke it and fell into the water.

While Goa Police and Fire Services officials reached the spot in the night when the incident was reported by a witness, they had no luck tracing the vehicle.

Goa: A car, which skid off the road and plunged into the Zuari River early Thursday, was retrieved after a five-hour rigorous rescue operation with the bodies of a woman and three men. pic.twitter.com/YSB4bbHDvf

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) July 28, 2022

The rescue operations were joined by divers from the Indian Navy on Thursday morning. The teams carried out the rescue operation with barges, feeder boats and a crane. Close to 1 pm on Thursday, the SUV was pulled out using a crane. The bodies of the four deceased were found inside the car.

The car was located right under the bridge it had fallen off but had sunk deep inside the water and was retrieved from at least 20 meters below the surface of the water, police officials said.

An accident report was lodged at the Agacaim Police Station.

#ZuariAccidentUpdate|| This was the scene last night on #Zuari Bridge after the SUV plunged in River. This video is shot by one of the person who crossed the bridge last night. pic.twitter.com/UQmm3F1sGK

— Goa News Hub (@goanewshub) July 28, 2022

“Despite strong undercurrents in the river and inclement weather, we were successfully able to fish out the vehicle and the bodies of the deceased with the help of several other agencies, including the Navy,” said Shobhit Saksena, Superintendent of Police, North Goa.

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“Further inquiry into the matter is being carried out including post-mortem of the deceased. The inquiry into the cause of the accident is still in the preliminary stage,” he added.

While rescue operations were underway, the Congress leaders, including Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Amit Patkar, Nuvem MLA Aleixo Sequeira and Viriato Fernandes, were at the accident spot.

“She was a leader of our party from the Nuvem constituency. Our MLA has been at the spot monitoring the situation. What happened today is very sad,” Patkar said.

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