Lorry plunges into water-filled quarry in Palakkad driver missing

Palakkad (Keralam), Oct 29 (PTI) Fire and Rescue Services personnel were searching for a lorry driver who went missing after the vehicle plunged into a water-filled quarry at Karukaputhur here on Thursday, police said.

The missing driver was identified as Abu Thahir, a native of Chanthanur here, who is suspected to have been trapped inside the cabin of the lorry, officials said.

The incident occurred around 7.30 am when Thahir reached the non-operational quarry to unload sand, police at the Chalissery police station said.

While reversing the vehicle, the lorry reached the edge of the quarry and plunged into a water body more than 15 feet deep, formed following quarrying activities, they said.

When the lorry did not return after unloading the sand, an earthmover operator checked the area and found the vehicle sinking into the water.

He alerted others, but the entire vehicle had submerged by the time they reached the spot, police said

The incident was reported to the Pattambi Fire and Rescue Station around 8 am.

Personnel who arrived at the site initially could not locate the vehicle.

Scuba divers from the department later reached the spot and located the submerged lorry, officials said.

However, officials said it was not yet confirmed whether Thahir was inside the vehicle.

Additional scuba teams and cranes were being deployed to pull the lorry out of the water, while a search for Thahir was also underway in other parts of the water body, police said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)