In a tragic incident, a BMW X3 luxury SUV crashed into in a lake in Udaipur. The incident happened at 11 pm, when the city streets were empty. A 38-year old businessman died in the incident while his brother-in-law sustained severe injuries. Here’s what happened.
A BMW inside a lake?
The BMW X3 driven by Vikas Modi, a businessman, plunged into one of Udaipur’s biggest lakes – the Fatehsagar. The car was reportedly driven at high speed when the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the railing of the lake. The railing gave away due to the force, and the vehicle ended up in the water.
The occupants, Vikas and his brother in law were trapped inside the vehicle as the car’s electronics failed due to the water. The locks did not open after and water started to seep inside the vehicle. Vikas was unconscious after the accident but his brother-in-law, Sarveshwar managed to break one of the rear windows to come out of the vehicle. Locals pulled him out and took him to the hospital. However, Vikas could not come out of the car, and died due to drowning.
Police officials later said that occupants of the vehicle were drunk, but the family members of Vikas say that he is a teetotaler.
Rescuers jumped into the lake and managed to open the door to take out Vikas. He was transferred to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Senior police officers reached the spot later and pulled out the vehicle with the help of a hydraulic crane. The car was heavily damaged from the front and was filled with water that explains the failure of electronics.
What to do when stuck in a sinking car?
Just like in the case of fire, electrical systems may fail when the car is drowning. The failure may lock you inside the vehicle. In such cases, here are few steps that you can take to make sure that you are safe.
- Keep a life hammer in the car. Such multipurpose hammers may turn out to be extremely useful. The hammer gets a glass breaker that you can use to break open the windows, and there’s a seat belt cutter to remove the seat belts if you are stuck.
- Try to open the window of the vehicle. Opening the door will be little difficult underwater due to high pressure from the water.
- The front of the car, where the engine is situated will sink first because of the weight concentration. If you are unable to open the front window, get into the rear and try to open the rear windows or break them open.
- If you do not have a life hammer, you can use the removable headrests of your vehicle, and use the metal ends as a hammer.
- A regular car usually takes 2-3 minutes to get filled with water. If opening the windows do no work, the next step should be to break the windows and escape.
Picture: UdaipurTimes
