Pokhara, July 13:

Efforts to locate the five persons, who went missing after their car skidded off the road and plunged into the Trishuli River near Kurintar on the Mugling-Kathmandu section of the Prithvi Highway four days ago, are not paying off. A relative of the victims, Prakash Shrestha, said the search for the missing is still on. Divers, local swimmers and relatives of the victims are engaged in the search.

Saroj Baidya, 45, his wife Sunita Baidya, 40, their son Shashwat, 20, and the Baidyas’ relatives Kalpana Shrestha 35, and her daughter Pritha, 17, were on board the ill-fated car. They were heading to Kathmandu from Pokhara, their hometown.

Five expert divers and two boats have been pressed into service for the search while police, local swimmers and the victims’ relatives are also lending a hand, Jayram Hamal, a family friend of the victims said.

According to water experts, generally the bodies of drowned persons surface after 72 hours of submersion in water. The number of persons engaged in the search has been increased in view of this likelihood.

Hamal added that the car has also not been located. The river has been combed from the spot where the mishap occurred right till Narayanghat, but in vain.

Rise in the level of water in the river has made the task of searching for the missing difficult, said Hamal, adding that search teams have been deployed at various points of the river.

Saroj and Sunita’s elder son Suknil, who had been studying in Australia, reached Pokhara yesterday after getting news of the tragedy.