JABALPUR: The death toll in the Bargi Dam cruise boat tragedy in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur district rose to 13 on Sunday after the bodies of a five-year-old boy and his uncle were recovered, police said, with all missing persons now accounted for.
The victims were identified as Mayuram (5) and his uncle Kamraj, around 50, an employee of the Ordnance Factory in Khamaria. Their bodies were found floating in the dam and sent to a government hospital for postmortem, Bargi Sub Divisional Officer of Police Anjul Ayank Mishra told PTI.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department and around 20 years old, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening.
Rescue operations involved around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, along with teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local divers.
Police said 28 of the 41 identified passengers on board were rescued. CCTV footage from the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the vessel, though identities of only 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government has ordered a probe into the incident, dismissed three crew members and banned the operation of similar vessels.
(With inputs from PTI)