Mandi: Another body of a student was found on Friday, thirteen days after 25 persons, including 24 students from a Hyderabad engineering college, were swept away in the river. The deceased has been identified as Sairaj of AS Rao Nagar in Hyderabad.
Search operations are still on as only 13 bodies have been found so far. On Thursday, three bodies were recovered. The three deceased students were identified as Shiva Prakash Varma, Ashish Mantha and Machrala Akhil, Deputy Commissioner Devesh Kumar said.
Earlier on Wednesday, one body was recovered. The deceased had been identified as P Venkata Durga Tarun, Mandi SP, R S Negi said.
The swollen body floating in the river was spotted by rescue team members, who fished it out of the river. “The swollen body surfaced near the Pandoh dam, about 12 km downstream Beas from the accident spot,” Jaideep Singh, commanding officer of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), said. “More bodies, which are in the process of bloating are likely to surface in next two or three days,” he said.
Massive search operations, aided by advanced technology, were launched to locate 24 BTech students of VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Hyderabad, and a tour leader, who were washed away in Beas river on June 8 after sudden release of water from the reservoir of the Larji hydro-power project near Thalot.
Singh said one more body was recovered from the river on Wednesday, but it was not of any of the missing Hyderabad engineering students. The rescue operations would continue to recover the remaining bodies, he added.
About 600 rescue personnel of NDRF, Army, Police, ITBP and 50 expert divers are engaged in the search along 15-km stretch of Beas river from Thalot to Pandoh Dam.
Meanwhile Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Shanta Kumar on Wednesday said the tragedy at the Beas river in Mandi, in which 24 youngsters were swept away, was not an accident but a "murder" and the culprits must be punished.
Relatives mourn with the mother of Devasish Bose, second from
left. (Photo: PTI)
The BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP slammed state Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for "giving clean chit" to Larji dam authorities who had released the water leading to the drowning of the engineering students on June 8.
"The Beas river tragedy in Himachal is not an accident but a murder of 24 innocent young citizens," Kumar said in Dharmshala.
Replying to reporters, Shanta said though this "killing was not intentional", yet the culprits must be punished under the law.
"I am surprised by the clean chit of the CM to the water releasing authorities without waiting for the investigation results," he said.
Relatives and family members mourn as they attend the last rites of
Gampala Aishwarya. (Photo: PTI)
Watch Video: Unseen footage of minutes before the Beas River tragedy
The former HP chief minister also rubbished reports that the BJP-led NDA was planning to topple the state government.
"It is not true that the Centre is planning to scrap the Congress government of Himachal as indicated in the press. NDA government will not disturb any state government elected constitutionally," he said.
Watch Video: Tragedy in Himachal, 24 student swept away
