Five Die, Two Injured as Car Carrying Wedding Guests Plunges into Odisha's Dhenkanal Pond

Five people were killed and two others injured after a car carrying seven young men plunged into a roadside pond in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district in the early hours of Thursday, police said.

The accident occurred around 3 am near Indipur village under the Dhenkanal Sadar police station limits. The group, all aged between 25 and 28 years, was reportedly travelling to attend a friend's wedding when the vehicle met with the accident.

According to police, the driver apparently failed to negotiate a curve on a village road in darkness, causing the car to veer off the road and fall into the pond.

The deceased were identified as Sri Ram Sahu (25), Abinash Sahu (28), Rakesh Kumar Sahu (25), Chandrakanta Swain (27), and Abhijit Sahu (25).

Two occupants managed to save themselves by jumping out of the car before it plunged into the pond. They subsequently alerted the police, following which a rescue operation was launched.

Police and rescue teams retrieved the vehicle from the water and brought out the remaining occupants. However, the five victims had already died, with police suspecting that they may have died of asphyxia after becoming trapped inside the submerged vehicle.

The two injured survivors were taken to the Dhenkanal District Headquarters Hospital, where they were undergoing treatment, police said.

The vehicle was subsequently fished out of the pond, while authorities continued their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the fatal Odisha road accident.