<p>Chennai: What was supposed to be a trip to visit their families back home and a darshan at the famed Lord Balaji temple in Tirupati turned tragic for a couple and their children after their car, in which they were travelling, was washed away by floodwaters in Bastar district in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.</p><p>Relatives of the victims said the couple - Rajesh Kumar (43) and his wife Pavithra (40) – and their minor daughter started from Raipur to Tiruppathur in Tamil Nadu, a distance of about 1,350 km, in their vehicle on Tuesday morning. </p><p>They touched base with their families after reaching Jagdalpur at around 11 am on Tuesday morning and told them that they would reach Parandapalli in Tiruppathur the next day.</p><p>“However, when I called my daughter-in-law at 2 pm, the phone was not reachable. We still can’t believe they are dead. During the 11 am call, I asked my son whether the girls had something to eat and he replied in the affirmative,” an inconsolable mother of Rajesh Kumar said.</p>.Rising Ganga floods Varanasi ghats; 'aarti', cremations being held on rooftops.<p>It is believed that Rajesh Kumar was at the wheel with his driver Lalu Yadu in the front seat, and the car was washed away in the heavy floods when it attempted to drive through a flooded culvert near the Kanger Valley National Park.</p><p>Though the couple and their children were washed away in the floods along with the car, the driver clung to a tree and escaped. The family said though the accident took place on Tuesday morning, Chhattisgarh police reached the spot only in the evening due to strong currents.</p><p>Rajesh Kumar’s mother said the accident took place in Sukma district and that the driver escaped as he managed to open the door, unlike the other three doors.</p><p>“We called my son’s family to visit us and to go to Tirupati, but we never thought they would return only as lifeless bodies,” the mother said. </p><p>Family members said Rajesh Kumar, a contractor, was living in Raipur for over 15 years and his wife joined him after marriage.</p>
<p>Chennai: What was supposed to be a trip to visit their families back home and a darshan at the famed Lord Balaji temple in Tirupati turned tragic for a couple and their children after their car, in which they were travelling, was washed away by floodwaters in Bastar district in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.</p><p>Relatives of the victims said the couple - Rajesh Kumar (43) and his wife Pavithra (40) – and their minor daughter started from Raipur to Tiruppathur in Tamil Nadu, a distance of about 1,350 km, in their vehicle on Tuesday morning. </p><p>They touched base with their families after reaching Jagdalpur at around 11 am on Tuesday morning and told them that they would reach Parandapalli in Tiruppathur the next day.</p><p>“However, when I called my daughter-in-law at 2 pm, the phone was not reachable. We still can’t believe they are dead. During the 11 am call, I asked my son whether the girls had something to eat and he replied in the affirmative,” an inconsolable mother of Rajesh Kumar said.</p>.Rising Ganga floods Varanasi ghats; 'aarti', cremations being held on rooftops.<p>It is believed that Rajesh Kumar was at the wheel with his driver Lalu Yadu in the front seat, and the car was washed away in the heavy floods when it attempted to drive through a flooded culvert near the Kanger Valley National Park.</p><p>Though the couple and their children were washed away in the floods along with the car, the driver clung to a tree and escaped. The family said though the accident took place on Tuesday morning, Chhattisgarh police reached the spot only in the evening due to strong currents.</p><p>Rajesh Kumar’s mother said the accident took place in Sukma district and that the driver escaped as he managed to open the door, unlike the other three doors.</p><p>“We called my son’s family to visit us and to go to Tirupati, but we never thought they would return only as lifeless bodies,” the mother said. </p><p>Family members said Rajesh Kumar, a contractor, was living in Raipur for over 15 years and his wife joined him after marriage.</p>