An Indian man died in Kansas after his car sank in floodwaters.
33-year-old Venkatesh Dupalodi, a man of Indian descent, was found dead in Kansas hours after he disappeared when his car was swept away by floodwaters in Sumner County. The accident occurred on Saturday, and the rescue operation began immediately.
Although the car was found, the driver was not found. The rescue mission did not continue overnight. Venkatesh’s body was found on Sunday after he was reported missing and help was sought locally in locating him.The Samar Provincial Sheriff’s Office said on Sunday that they had recovered the body of the driver who went missing. Deputies went to the 600 block of South Oliver Road after the report came in of a submerged vehicle on the west side of the bridge.
A witness told deputies they saw the car submerge in water and that someone was still inside the car. The speed and force of the floodwaters prevented the Wellington Fire Department from entering the water.
The Kansas Highway Patrol unit assisted in the search for the driver, along with a police drone.The victim’s body was found at 12:19 p.m. Sunday, about a quarter mile off Oliver Road.Dupaludi was from Omaha, Nebraska and originally from Andhra Pradesh.
When he was reported missing, his family in India reached out to local leaders.It is not yet known why Dupaludi was in Kansas, which was under severe flash flood warnings due to persistent rain. But a friend said his destination wasn’t Kansas. He was traveling from Houston and chose a no-toll route, and may have fallen into floodwaters while driving on a local road near Wellington.
