RAUTAHAT, Aug 20: Last week, six members of the same family lost their lives when an ambulance they were riding was washed away by flood. While his family members could not escape the mishap, Rajan Yadav was lucky to survive. He along with six other family members was headed for Gaur, the district headquarters of Rautahat, carrying his pregnant sister-in-law who was having labor pains. But they were drowned in the flooded Lalbakaiya River in Rajpur Farhadawa Chowk of India, as the ambulance was swept away.
Recalling the horrible incident, Yadav said, "Suddenly, the vehicle entered into a pothole and it submerged along with eight of us without giving us a second to think." But Rajan and the driver of the vehicle, Shambhu Yadav, managed to survive. The nearest hospital is around three kilometers away from Rajan's home and it was heavily raining that day.
Principal of Bhramha Jyoti Secondary School (BJSS), Ramsewak Ray Yadav of Laukaha, a local of Paroha Rural Municipality-3, had managed a vehicle for his pregnant daughter-in-law who was in the last stage of her delivery. Ramsewak had sent his son Chandra Kishor Yadav, 30 to accompany his pregnant wife Sharmila Yadav, 26, granddaughter Arushi Yadav, 3, his brother's wife Lalita Devi Yadav, 40, and his grandson Saroj Ray Yadav, 20 along with his wife and younger son Rajan.
The pain of mourning the death of six family members
Principal Ramsewak was desperately waiting to hear the good news about the birth of his grandchild but he got heartbreaking news. That broke him down completely shattering all of his dreams.
Rajan who has been mourning the death of his family members recalled the tragic incident and said, "After getting washed away by the flood, the driver came out by opening the front door of the vehicle and he also opened the door near my seat and saved me." Both of them had to swim through13 ft deep river to save their lives.
This tragic incident took place at around 4 am in the morning. According to Rajan, he kept shouting for help but no one heard him due to the heavy rainfall. Most of the people were still in their sleep at that time. "I tried enough to save my family members by trying to move the vehicle with the help of a bamboo stick but it didn't work," he said. After a while he went to his village seeking help and the villagers who had gathered at the accident site took pulled the bodies his family members out from the water.
Ramsewak doesn't remember such a tragic accident in his family history. These days are the worst ones ih his entire life, he thinks. He hasn't been able to stoop his tears for almost a wee. "I pray to god that no person will have to go through the ordeal of performing death rites of six family members at once," he said.
Meanwhile, senior leader of Nepali Congress (NC) Ram Chandra Poudel, Agriculture Development Minister Ram Krishna Yadav and Irrigation Minister Sanjay Kumar Gautam visited the victim's family members and assured them of relief. The team even inspected the Laxamanpur barrage and various other places which have been hit hard by the flood.
