10 drown as vehicle swept away by floodwater

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NEW DELHI (XINHUA) – Ten members of a family drowned yesterday after a vehicle they were traveling in was swept away by floodwater in the northern Indian state of Punjab, police said.

The vehicle was swept away in a rivulet near Jejon town of Hoshiarpur district, about 114 kilometres northwest of Chandigarh, the capital city of Punjab.

According to police, the family from neighbouring Himachal Pradesh were on their way to Nawanshahr town in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district of Punjab to attend a wedding.

“The vehicle carrying the victims was passing through the Jejon rivulet and it suddenly was swept away in the strong current of water,” the police official said.

Officials said seven bodies have been fished out, while efforts were underway to trace the three missing persons.

Meanwhile, seven youth, aged between 20 and 25, drowned in an over-flowing river amid heavy rains in India’s western state of Rajasthan yesterday, confirmed a local administration official to Xinhua over phone.

Parts of northern and western India, including Delhi and various states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, have been witnessing very heavy rains over the past 24 hours.

According to the official, the mishap occurred in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district.

“As per preliminary information, some youth were sitting on a temporary structure along the Banganga river. Suddenly the water level in the already overflowing river rose, and the temporary structure collapsed leading to the mishap. The youth couldn’t save themselves as the water current was too strong,” the official said.

A family transfer belongings in a boat to a safer place in a flood-affected area in Morigaon district of India’s northeastern state of Assam. PHOTO: XINHUA
Villagers take shelter on the top of their partially submerged hut. PHOTO: XINHUA