Two people died after a car lost control and plunged into a pond while travelling from Bayalbas, Sarlahi, to Gaushala, Mahottari, on Tuesday.

One passenger managed to survive by swimming, police said.

The incident occurred at around 4am on Tuesday near Saraswati Secondary School in Miyakhor, ward 2 of Ishwarpur Municipality.

The deceased have been identified as the car’s driver, 38-year-old Suresh Mahato from ward 10 of Gaushala Municipality, and 37-year-old Ramakant Thakur from ward 8 of Sonma Rural Municipality in Mahottari. Janak Yadav, 31, from ward 2 of Gaushala Municipality, escaped safely.

Police teams from Nepal Police and Armed Police Force recovered the car and the bodies, said Superintendent of Police Binod Raj Khanal, chief of Armed Police Force Battalion No. 10.

The bodies are being sent to the provincial hospital for post-mortem, according to the District Police Office, Sarahi.