MP boat tragedy
Jabalpur, May 2: The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time.
The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra.
“The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body,” he told PTI.
Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing.
Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added. Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said. Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said.
More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.
Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said.
“Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon,” he said.
Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.
‘Save me’: Woman’s video call before boat tragedy kills 3 from her family
What began as a family trip to attend a housewarming ceremony in Madhya Pradesh turned into a devastating tragedy for a Delhi family after three of its six members died when a cruise boat capsized in the Bargi reservoir on the Narmada river, relatives said on Saturday.
After attending the ceremony at a relative’s home in Jabalpur on Tuesday, the Massey family from the Delhi Cantonment area decided to spend a day sightseeing before returning to Delhi.
On Thursday evening, the family went on a cruise boat, operated by the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Department, at the Bargi Dam with around 40 passengers when it was hit with strong winds and waves and overturned.
Three from the family — Marina, 39, her four-year-old son Trishan, also called Jahan, and her mother, Madhur Massey, 62, lost their lives. Marina’s husband, Pradeep, their 14-year-old daughter, Siya, fondly called Pihu, and her father, Julius Massey, 65, survived. (Agencies)
