india

Updated: Jul 11, 2019 01:24 IST

A day after a couple got washed away while crossing a flooded bridge over Gadi river in Panvel, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) officials recovered their bike on Wednesday. However, they were unable to trace their bodies till evening.

Aditya Ambre, 30, and his wife Sarika, 28, were crossing the bridge on their bike on the way to work on Tuesday morning, as it was the only access to the main road from their home in Umroli village.

At that point, the water level of the river increased suddenly and washed them away, along with the bike.

Officials of the Central and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) and the fire brigade searched for them in the river after a few local residents raised an alarm, but were unable to find them. On Wednesday, a team of NDRF officials joined them. Two groups of volunteers have also been helping the team.

Sunil Karote, assistant inspector from Panvel Taluka police station, said, “NDRF officials dived into the river and found the bike exactly in the same area where it had fallen in the afternoon. They also checked other places in the river, but could not trace the couple. The search operation was called off once it was dark. The operation will resume on Thursday morning.”

An NDRF official said the strong current of the river might have taken the couple far away from the spot.

“We will first search in that area and will gradually expand our search,” the official said.