Nine people, including three children and two women, were killed on Monday after a van carrying 11 passengers was swept away by strong currents in a swollen drain in Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district, police said. The accident took place around 9.30 am near Padana on the Pachore-Sarangpur road. Two passengers managed to swim to safety and were later admitted to hospital.
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Following the incident, police, local administration personnel and a State Disaster Emergency Response Force (SDERF) team launched a rescue operation. He said instructions had been issued to provide financial assistance to the bereaved families, while search operations were also underway for people reported missing following the incident. The victims, residents of Dhansad village in the Satwas area of neighbouring Dewas district, were travelling to Kadlavad when the accident occurred. The van was crossing a culvert over the Jhiri drain, where water had spilled onto the road following heavy rainfall. The vehicle was eventually pulled out of the drain with the help of a crane. The van was registered in the name of Mukesh Singh, who was driving it. “The news of the deaths of passengers in the rain-related accident on the Pachore-Sarangpur road in Rajgarh district is deeply tragic. The accident comes amid heavy monsoon rainfall across Madhya Pradesh, with several rivers and drains overflowing and water affecting low-lying roads and crossings in different parts of the state.
Mukesh Singh and Hukum Singh survived the accident and were taken to hospital for treatment, officials said. My condolences are with the affected families,” Yadav said.
