Lucknow, Jun 20 (IANS): Seven children are feared dead in an accident in which a SUV carrying 29 people fell into a canal here on Thursday morning.

All the passengers were returning from a marriage function when the driver lost control over the vehicle and plunged into the into the Indira Canal in Nagram area on the outskirts of the state capital around 3.a.m.

Locals rescued 22 adults while there was no trace of the children -- Sachin, 6, Sunny, 5, Sajan, 8, Saurabh, 8, Aman, 9, Mansi, 4, and Manisha, 4.

A team of NDRF has been deployed for rescue operations and divers have been pressed into service.

Inspector General range Lucknow S.K. Bhagat said that the strong flow of the canal was making rescue operations difficult. He said that efforts were being made to regulate the flow of the waters so that divers can continue the rescue operations.

He said that the districts downstream had been asked to put nets into the canal so that if the children had been swept away by the currents, they could be recovered.

The Chief Minister has taken cognizance of the incident and has ordered all assistances in rescue operations.