Hyderabad: The bodies of the six Ankura Hospital employees were fished out of the Nagarjuna Sagar canal on Saturday. They had gone missing when on Friday their SUV tried to avoid a pothole on the narrow bridge at Chakirala and fell into the water.
The victims were identified as Jammikuntla Nageshwara Rao (36) of Dammaiguda, V Pavan Kumar (23) of Neredmet, B Santhosh Kumar (27) of Santoshnagar Colony, Abdul Azeez (34) of AS Rao Nagar, Jimson Geo-rge (29) of Trimulgherry, and T Rajesh (29) of the city but a native of Pedd-apally. Personnel of the National Disaster Respo-nse Force (NDRF) found the bodies around 250 metres from where the car had fallen in, and about 20 feet deep.
The men worked at Ankura Hospital for Women and Children at AS Rao Nagar, and had gone in a group of 11, divided into two cars, to Chakirala to attend a wedding. The accident happened when they were returning to the city, at Nadigudem mandal of Suryapet district.
The ill-fated SUV was in the lead while crossing the narrow bridge. “We were following it,” a colleague in the other car said. “On reaching the bridge, we saw the pothole and crossed it. But we could not see the other car. Then we saw it floating in the canal and in no time it sank,” he said.
By the time the police were alerted, it was too late. The SUV was washed away by the strong current, and a heavy downpour with a dark overcast sky also made a rescue impossible.
Police said the SUV was likely over-speeding on the narrow road. “Driver Abdul Azeez was unaware of the road,” said Sub-inspector C. Naresh. “The SUV crashed through the stone railing and fell in.”
