A diving team of a paramilitary force made a heart-wrenching discovery while recovering bodies from the Bargi Dam cruise boat tragedy in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur district, with rescuers finding a woman still clutching her child in a final embrace, officials said, according to PTI.
The Agra-based diving team, which is part of the ongoing rescue operation, said the conditions inside the submerged vessel were extremely challenging, with limited space, broken structures and iron rods complicating the search efforts.
Speaking to PTI Videos, a diver said rescuers initially struggled to retrieve the woman’s body from the wreckage. “We then discovered that she was holding her child tightly, and it was difficult to separate them. Our team was deeply moved by the scene,” he said.
He added that poor visibility and jagged debris inside the overturned vessel made the operation hazardous, forcing rescuers to use hammers to create narrow openings. In one instance, a diver reportedly got trapped inside the wreckage before being safely pulled out by the team.
Another member of the rescue team told PTI that broken structures and iron rods repeatedly snagged equipment, while the collapsed boat structure created narrow and dangerous passageways that had to be navigated carefully.
Despite the difficulties, the paramilitary diving team has so far recovered five bodies from the murky depths of the reservoir, including one child and four adults.
Officials said a total of nine people have died and 22 have been rescued so far after the cruise boat overturned and sank in Bargi Dam following a sudden storm on Thursday evening.
(With inputs from PTI)