Bhubaneswar: The death toll in the boat tragedy in Odisha's Jharsuguda has risen to eight after the rescue team recovered seven more bodies on Saturday, an official said. All deceased persons, who included three minor boys and five women, are from Chhattisgarh.
The joint team of ODRAF and Fire services personnel carried out the rescue operations. All the bodies have been recovered and sent to the district headquarter hospital for autopsy. The local administration team is in contact with their family members after confirming the identity of the deceased. The bodies will be handed over after the autopsy.
The incident took place on Friday when the country boat with 50 persons on board traveling to Patharseni under Ambavona block of Bargarh district capsized in the Mahanadi river.
According to reports, the local fishermen rescued over 40 of the passengers while others went missing. An official said that a massive rescue operation was launched after the incident and seven bodies have been recovered in the incident. Search for the missing persons continues.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed grief over the incident. The Chief Minister has announced ex-gratia assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased.
The Chief Minister had directed the Chief Secretary and SRC to speed up the rescue operation. Five scuba divers and two cameras were sent by air on the spot to assist in the rescue operation.
An official said that the passengers traveling on the ill-fated boat are residents of Kharseni area of neighboring Chhattisgarh and had come to Lakhanpur by road from where they had taken the boat to visit a temple at Patharseni in the Ambabhona block of Bargarh district, across the Mahanadi river.
The boat capsized when the devotees were returning to Lakhanpur from the temple.
President Murmu expressed their condolences on the death of 8 persons who lost their lives in boat tragedy on Friday. "Distressed to learn that the capsize of a boat in Mahanadi River near #Jharsuguda, led to loss of many lives. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. I pray for speedy recovery of all those affected by the tragedy," tweeted President Droupadi Murmu.
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