Patna, Jun 27 (IANS): A truck driver has gone missing after he accidentally fell into the Sone river in Bihar's Bhojpur district during a special vehicle checking drive, an official said.

The incident occured on Monday night when officials of the mining department came for a surprise inspection of a newly-built six lane bridge connecting Bihta and Koilwar on the Sone river and started checking overloaded trucks carrying sand.

It created chaos on the bridge and one of the truck drivers, in a bid to escape from the place, accidently fell into the river.

Due to the monsoon rain, the water level of the river has been increasing and officials believe that the driver might have been washed away by the strong currents.

“We have called for an SDRF team to search for the truck driver. The incident occurred at around 9 to 10 p.m. on Monday night. The victim has been identified as Pintu Kumar, a native of Narhat village in Patna district,” the SHO of Koilwar police station said.

“A team of the mining department was crossing the bridge and the driver, probably in panic, tried to escape from the place and accidently fell into the river. An investigation is currently underway.”