UP: 7 children feared drowned as van falls into canal

Seven children were feared drowned, when a van carrying a wedding party, fell into a canal on the outskirts of the state capital around dawn on Thursday.

According to the police sources, the mishap occurred, when the wedding party was returning home after attending a function at Nagram village, a few kilometres away from Lucknow.

Sources said that the driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to negotiate a sharp turn as a result of which the van, which was carrying around 29 people, including women and children, fell into the canal.

Local villagers immediately launched rescue operations and helped 22 people swim to safety. Seven children, however, were suspected to have been swept away by the strong currents and were missing, sources said.

NDRF teams and divers have been pressed into service to trace the missing children, sources said. Senior officials were on the spot and are monitoring the search operations.

Eyewitnesses claimed that the driver was in an inebriated condition and had been warned by the members of the wedding party for driving fast on the narrow road along the Indira Canal.

All the victims hailed from the neighbouring Barabanki district, about 40 kilometres from here, sources said.