A driver and a helper escaped by the skin of their teeth when they tried to take a dumper truck across a flooded bridge in Uttar Pradesh’s Mahoba district and it sank mid-way. The incident was caught on camera and the video is now going viral.
Mahoba is one of several districts in Uttar Pradesh which have seen flooding due to heavy rain. The bridge near the district’s Budhera village was flooded because the Keolari river was flowing way above its normal mark.
Several people had gathered on the edge of the flooded bridge on Wednesday afternoon and some vehicles were also waiting after seeing no way across. Local residents said the driver of the dumper ignored their warnings and decided to drive onto the flooded bridge, hoping to make it to the other side.
The video shows the truck being driven tentatively into the water and things seem to be going okay for a few seconds until the vehicle appears to hit something. The truck starts keeling over to its side very slowly until the cabin sinks and the head of one of its occupants appears in a burst of bubbles. The wheels and the chassis also go under water with only the tailgate (the portion of the dumper on which material is loaded) staying afloat.
Other videos show the driver and the cleaner swimming to safety.
(With inputs from Irfan Pathan)
