The number of victims of a tourist boat capsizing in the Bargi dam reservoir on the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh during Thursday’s storm rose to nine, while rescue operations resumed on Friday with the arrival of an army team and helicopter from Hyderabad and a special paramilitary unit from Kolkata. Four people are still missing.
The bodies of eight women and a child were recovered from the reservoir, about 35 km from Jabalpur, officials said. Twenty-eight passengers were rescued. Officials said tickets were issued to 29 passengers, but survivors claimed that between 43 and 45 people were on the boat.
Bargi police chief Anjul Mishra said the army team, helicopter and paramilitary unit had arrived to reinforce the rescue operations. “Hydraulic machines and excavators are being used to recover the ship submerged 20 feet underwater,” he said. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is expected to reach Jabalpur at 4 pm.
The authorities want to rule out the possibility of missing persons being detained inside the ship.
One 14-year-old survivor, who lost her 39-year-old mother, grandmother and four-year-old brother, said no one had life jackets. “My father and uncle opened a cupboard to get them. My grandfather jumped into the river and was saved by villagers. My father and I also jumped wearing jackets. My mother had put a jacket on my brother when the waves rose violently. She held him tightly inside her jacket. Later, their bodies were found. The police also found my grandmother’s body.”
The survivor said local residents warned the pilot to halt operations as the storm approached, but their pleas were ignored. The flight’s pilot, Mahesh, refuted these allegations and said that safety procedures were in place, but the ship went out of control due to a sudden violent storm. “No one had a chance to fight back or regain their position.”
Another survivor, 40-year-old Pratik Kumar, on Thursday alleged security lapses. “the [cruise] Staff began distributing life jackets only after the cruise began to capsize. “Me, my daughter and my father-in-law were rescued by local people,” he said, adding that his wife and mother-in-law were still missing.
