Bihar: 3 die as car plunges into river in Muzaffarpur

PATNA: At least three youths died when the car they were travelling in plunged into the Baya river in Muzaffarpur district around 1am on Thursday. Police said the accident occurred on state highway-86 between Saraiyya and Jaitpur. Two other occupants of the car somehow swam to safety.
According to police, the five were returning home from Mungauli village in Saraiyya where they had gone to attend a marriage function.The car was approaching the bridge over the river when the accident occurred.
SHO of Saraiyya police station Ram Binod Yadav said the victims were identified as Pritam Kumar (22), Niki Kumar Sharma (20) and Rajan Kumar (21), all residents of Madhopur Buzurg village under the Deoria police station area in Muzaffarpur.
“The three remained trapped in the car. The police reached the spot within minutes. However, by the time the police personnel pulled them out of the car with the help of villagers, they were dead. The two youths who swam to safety were identified as Siyaram Kumar Sharma (22) and Raman Kumar (21), residents of Dharphari village under Deoria police station,” the SHO added.
“Pritam, who was driving the car, probably lost control over the vehicle while negotiating a sharp turn while approaching the bridge. The car, according to preliminary investigations, was being driven at a high speed,” the SHO said.
He, however, added Pritam’s father Ravindra Sah has lodged a complaint with Saraiyya police station, alleging that another vehicle had dashed the car driven by his son.
“We have begun an inquiry into the accident. The bodies of the victims were handed over to their family members after post-mortem at Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital in Muzaffarpur,” the SHO said, adding the ill-fated car of Ravindra was pulled out of the river within an hour of the accident with the help of a crane.