Couple, 10-month-old son killed as car falls from overbridge into Chambal river in Jhalawar

Heading home following a visit to a temple, a young couple and their 10-month-old boy from Madhya Pradesh died as their car fell into the Chambal river from a barricaded overbridge in Jhalawar district, police said.

The incident happened on Wednesday night on the bridge in Gangdhar area on Chaumahala-Mandsaur route of the interstate highway that had sustained damage to its pillars during monsoon season last year and remained closed for vehicular traffic with barricades placed to block entry, Circle Inspector at Gangdhar police station Kalyan Singh said.

Yet, the family ventured into the damaged bridge and lost their lives, Singh said.

The deceased were identified as Tufan Singh (25), his wife Seema Kanwar (23) and their 10-month-old boy, all residents of Neemuch district in MP.

The family was heading home to Neemuch in their personal car after performing 'darshan' at a temple in Rajgarh district of MP that borders Rajasthan.

Around 9 pm, the car tried to cross the 60-feet high overbridge, which was closed in September last year following heavy rains, when it plunged into the Chambal river beneath leaving all three dead, the police official said.

Upon reaching the spot, police recovered the bodies and the mangled remains of the car from the river, he added.

The bodies were handed over to family members after a post-mortem was conducted on Thursday morning and a case was lodged in this connection for further investigation, Singh added.