A heart-stopping incident unfolded at the popular Lodhiya Kund waterfall near the city of Indore, India in Madhya Pradesh state, as a car with a 12-year-old girl trapped inside plunged over the waterfall. The dramatic scene, captured on a now-viral cellphone video, shows the girl’s father, who cannot swim, leaping into the water to save her from the sinking vehicle.
According to The Times of India, the red Honda Brio was initially parked atop a 15-foot cliff above a pond. The young girl, Zaunak Ali, was inside the car getting changed when it started rolling backward. Despite her father’s desperate attempts to open the car door, the vehicle plunged over the edge with his daughter still trapped inside.
The video footage shows the father immediately jumping into the water after the car, flailing helplessly as his daughter’s screams fill the air. Nearby picnickers, initially frozen with shock, quickly sprang into action to rescue the pair from drowning. Other good Samaritans eventually reached the girl inside of the crashed vehicle and were able to bring her to safety.
Miraculously, both father and daughter sustained only minor injuries and were treated accordingly. Police investigations have revealed that the accident happened because the car was negligently parked on the cliff’s edge without the handbrake engaged. Police official Mansharam Baghel stated that the car began rolling into the waterfall after the trunk was forcefully closed. Tayyab Ali, the father, claimed that the handbrake had accidentally disengaged and that the crash was not done on purpose.