Funeral after wedding as cab falls off bridge

MOHALI: Wedding celebrations of night turned into grief by Monday morning when a cab on the airport road edged off a bridge on its way to Kharar from the Zirakpur function, killing the groom's uncle, 45, and injuring three people, including the groom's father.
Near the TDI Township, the online-operated taxi heading to Sunny Enclave skidded off road around 1:30am and fell into a choe (seasonal rivulet). The driver escaped, leaving the vehicle behind. One of the injured people had to call his family over to get four of them out of the wreckage. The rescuers first had to push the overturned cab into the upright position. Police say that Pal Chand (45) of Lehragaga in Punjab's Sangrur district died in this accident, while Somnath, Sukhdev Singh, and Bittu Kumar, all from Sunny Enclave of Kharar, were injured.

The survivors say the driver lost control of the cab near Shaheed Udham Singh Colony. The injured were moved to the Phase-VI civil hospital in Mohali, from where Pal Chand and Somnath were referred to the Sector-32 Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Chandigarh, where doctors declared Pal Chand brought dead, while his brother, Somnath, groom's father, remains critical and under medical observation. Injured Sukhdev Singh and Bittu Kumar were discharged after first aid.

After the wedding function on Sunday night, the four men had booked a cab online to go back to Kharar. Arsh Kumar, son of Pal Chand, said: "Around 2am, we received a call from them, saying they were stuck in the car after an accident and we must come and get them out." Balongi station house officer (SHO) Manphul Singh said investigation into the case was on.