The search for three people who remain missing after a Delhi-registered vehicle carrying 10 people plunged nearly 300 feet from a roadside cliff into the Lohit River in Arunachal Pradesh’s Anjaw district entered its fourth day on Sunday.
The accident occurred at around 6 am on August 13 in the Sarti area along National Highway 113 on the Walong-Hawai road, close to the India-China border. The vehicle reportedly skidded off the road, plunged into a deep gorge and landed in the Lohit River before being submerged.
One woman was killed in the accident, while six others — four men, a woman and a child — were rescued with injuries. Three people are still missing.
The incident was reported to the District Disaster Management Officer (DDMO), Anjaw, at around 9.59 am, following which the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) launched a search-and-rescue operation in coordination with Anjaw Police, the Indian Army, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), district administration and local residents and volunteers.
On Sunday, the fourth day of the operation, an NDRF team began the search at around 8.45 am with assistance from the SDRF. The teams are concentrating on downstream stretches of the Lohit River and areas where the missing persons may have been swept away by the strong current.
The DDMA is coordinating the rescue operation, while police and medical teams remain stationed at the accident site.
On Saturday, SDRF and local police teams conducted an extensive search downstream, covering nearly 12 km from the accident site. However, the missing persons could not be traced and the operation was suspended at around 5 pm.
The NDRF team subsequently reached the site to carry out specialised underwater search operations. The underwater search began on Sunday in coordination with the DDMA, SDRF and local police.
Authorities sought assistance from the NDRF after the SDRF’s limited resources posed challenges in carrying out the search and recovery operation.
Search teams are continuing their efforts to locate the three missing persons and recover the submerged vehicle from the Lohit River.
