NOIDA: Six male members of a joint family from Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh were killed when their car skidded off the road and fell into a canal in Greater Noida on a foggy Sunday night, police said.
Five other occupants of the car suffered injuries in the accident that took place around 11.30 pm when they were on their way to Delhi for a house-warming ceremony, the police said on Monday.
"Eleven people were on board the Maruti Ertiga. The car fell into the Kherli canal in the Dankaur area.
They were taken to a hospital, where doctors declared six of them dead, while the remaining five are undergoing treatment," a police spokesperson said.
The deceased have been identified as Ram Khiladi (75), Kishan Lal (50), Netrapal (40), Mahesh (35), Neeresh (17) and Mallu (12), they said.
Further proceedings are underway, police said.
The accident appears to have taken place due to low visibility caused by fog, the official said.
There was one more car, another Ertiga, accompanying this vehicle which had the female members of the family on board, a family member said.
"Around 20 people in two cars, both Maruti Ertiga, had left from Sambhal in UP to Delhi where they were to participate in a house-warming ceremony on Monday," Ramdas, the father of deceased Neeresh, told PTI.
He said he was in the other car at a distance of one or two km when his teenage son called him up and said, "Our car has fallen into a river, come fast and help us."
He said by the time they reached the spot, the local police were already there and efforts were being made to rescue those stuck in the car.
"It was only after a JCB had come and ropes were used that all car occupants were brought out and taken to a hospital, and it all happened in about two hours," he said.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed his condolence over the loss of life, a statement issued by the office of the Chief Minister said in Lucknow.
Adityanath directed the officials to ensure that the injured persons get proper and adequate treatment.
He also directed district magistrates, senior superintendents of police and superintendents of police to make necessary arrangements for safe transportation in accident-prone areas in their respective districts, the statement said.