The death toll in the Bargi Dam cruise boat tragedy rose to nine on Friday, as rescuers recovered bodies of more persons who were on the cruise boat that overturned in the reservoir in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur, officials said, according to PTI.
A cruise boat with 29 passengers and two crew members onboard overturned in the Bargi Dam after encountering a sudden storm on Thursday evening.
Officials said 16 persons have been rescued so far, while some tourists were still missing and a search operation was in full swing to trace them.
Talking to PTI Videos, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Minister Dharmendra Bhav Singh Lodhi said that an operation was underway to trace the missing persons. He added that after the rescue operation, a probe would be conducted and stern action would be taken against those found guilty of the unfortunate tragedy.
A search and rescue operation for the missing passengers continued overnight, with teams from the Army, NDRF and SDRF joining in, Madhya Pradesh Public Works Department Minister Rakesh Singh said. He added that hydraulic cranes were being used to pull out the overturned cruise boat from the water body.
According to eyewitnesses, strong winds made the water choppy, prompting several passengers to raise an alarm and ask the crew to take the boat back to the banks. However, the crew was unable to hear these shouts, and the boat drifted before overturning. Some locals managed to rescue a few passengers wearing life jackets with the help of ropes.
(With inputs from PTI)
