9 of Himachal Pradesh family drown in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur as SUV gets swept away in flood water

Sanjiv Bakshi

Hoshiarpur, August 11

Nine members of a family from Himachal Pradesh travelling in an SUV to attend a wedding in Punjab’s Nawanshahr were swept away along with the vehicle in a sudden flood in a rivulet near Jejon town in Mahilpur block of Hoshiarpur district on Sunday.

Of the 11 people travelling in the SUV, 10, including the driver, drowned while one was rescued.

According to information, Deepak Bhatia, a resident of Dehra near Mehatpur in Una district of Himachal Pradesh, along with nine members of his family, had left for Nawanshahr to attend a wedding.

Those accompanying Deepak were his father Surjeet Bhatia, mother Paramjeet Kaur, uncle Sarup Chand, aunts Bindar and Shino, daughters Bhavna (18) and Anku (20), and son Harmeet (12) besides the SUV driver.

As the vehicle was passing through the Jejon rivulet after crossing the Himachal border, suddenly the flow of water in the rivulet increased and their vehicle got stuck in the mud and later started flowing with the strong current.