Balrampur, November 3: Two more persons have died after a sports utility vehicle (SUV) fell into a pond in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur district, taking the toll to eight, police said on Sunday. While one more body was recovered from the accident site late Saturday night, the vehicle's driver succumbed to his injuries while being shifted to hospital, a senior police official told PTI.

Earlier, six persons were reported killed after the SUV fell into the roadside pond between 8 pm and 8.30 pm on Saturday at Ladua turn on Budha Bagicha main road under Rajpur police station limits. The victims were heading from Larima (Balrampur) to neighbouring Surajpur district, the official said. As per preliminary information, the driver failed to negotiate the turn following which the SUV skidded off the road and plunged into the small pond, he said. Durg Road Accident: 3 Members of Family Killed, 1 Injured After Truck Hits Motorcycle in Chhattisgarh’s Dhaur Village.

After being alerted, a police team was rushed to the spot. Six bodies were initially fished out of the pond, while the driver was rescued in a serious condition, the official said. Later, one more body was found and the driver succumbed to injuries while being shifted to hospital, he said. The SUV was also pulled out of the pond using a machine, the official said. Chhattisgarh Road Accident: Bus Falls Into Mine Pit in Durg; Four Killed, Over 20 Passengers Injured.

The deceased have been identified as Sanjay Munda (35), his wife Chandravati (35), their daughter Kirti (8), their neighbours Mangal Das (19), Bhupendra Munda (18), Baleshwar (18) and Udaynath (20) and driver Mukesh Das (26), he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)