Sadak Suraksha Force saves Malerkotla family as car falls into drain

Malerkotla, August 25

Four members of a Malerkotla family, including two women, had a miraculous escape when the car in which they were travelling fell into a drain on Malerkotla-Dhuri Road on Saturday night.

The victims were returning home from Sangrur after attending a family function when the driver of the car lost control over steering on the sudden appearance of some vehicle or stray animal.

All the occupants were rescued by members of a Sadak Suraksha Force (SSF) team led by Gurmeet Singh from the overturned car that was partially immersed in the stinking water of the drain.

Losses could have been irreparable had one of the occupants not found one mobile out of all phones that had been immersed in water. He called one of his relatives, who informed the SSF team.

The promptness of the SSF was also appreciable, as they had started rescue work with a ladder, chair, and rope borrowed from a nearby petrol station instead of waiting for the JCB and Fire Brigade teams.

The rescued victims—Pushpa Jindal, Preety Jindal, Vijay Jindal, and Rajiv Jindal — were shifted to Malerkotla Civil Hospital within half an hour of the occurrence of the mishap. Pushpa Jindal was further referred to a multispecialty hospital in Ludhiana, as her condition was serious.

SSF team in charge Gurmit Singh said coordinated efforts by members of his team and relatives of the victim had yielded positive results to save all human lives involved in the accident.

He said, “Having received the information, we reached the spot and called for more force, a JCB, and a fire brigade to undertake a rescue operation. However, instead of waiting for the equipment, we rescued all the occupants with a ladder, a chair, and a rope brought from a nearby petrol pump.”