A man and his wife dangerously spent nearly two hours on the roof of a car in a river after it was swept away while crossing an overflowing causeway in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district on Sunday, officials said.
Local fire officials rescued the couple after the water level came down as strong currents initially hindered the operation near Idar town.
The car was pushed about 1.5 km from the causeway it was trying to cross, nearly submerging completely with only its roof visible, as the Karol River swelled to dangerous levels, fire officer Kamal Patel said, PTI reported.
Meanwhile, the couple managed to exit the car and climb onto the car’s roof, where they remained for about two hours before being rescued, the official said.
Sabarkantha, Gujarat: Near Kadiyadra in Idar, three people were swept away with their car in the Karol River. The accident occurred while attempting to cross a bridge despite the fast-flowing water pic.twitter.com/ILIAEkelHB
— IANS (@ians_india) September 8, 2024
Crowds quickly gathered along the riverbanks to witness the rescue, with many people filming the car almost entirely submerged by the swirling waters.
The first attempt to bring them safely failed due to a strong surge of water, and the fire department personnel had to wait for the water level to come down, Patel said.
“As we were crossing, the water rose and the current became so strong that our car got swept away for about 1.5 km from the causeway,” he added, PTI reported.