Sonapur tragedy: 16 more bodies retrieved

JOWAI: Sixteen more bodies were on Thursday recovered  from the site of the road accident at Sonapur in East Jaintia Hills district, two days after an inter-state bus plunged into deep gorge.
According to BSF sources on Thursday, till 5:00 pm, only 16 bodies could be retrieved and another four bodies will be retrieved on Friday.
So far, 25 bodies have been retrieved from the 500-feet vertical gorged.
On Wednesday, the search and rescue team mobilised by the Meghalaya police managed to evacuate nine survivors from the accident site and later shifted them to hospitals for immediate medical treatment besides retrieving nine bodies.
A total of 34 people were on board in the bus, which was on its way from Silchar to Assam’s main commercial town Guwahati via Meghalaya as per the passenger list provided by the bus operator.
“We will be conducting our mopping operation to ascertain if of any survivor or dead bodies in the gorge,” Superintendent of Police in-charge East Jaintia Hills district, Spill Thamar said.
The accident, which took place on Tuesday night near Sonapur  Mandir, claimed 29 lives.