The bodies of five Hyderabad-based engineering students, who were washed away in the turbulent waters of the Beas River along with 19 classmates and a tour operator on Monday, were flown back to Hyderabad on Tuesday morning even as unconfirmed reports said a sixth body had been recovered.
The bodies were found on Monday as Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh ordered a magisterial inquiry and suspended two senior engineers and a fitter of Larji Hydropower Project for alleged negligence. Search continued for the 19 students and tour operator Prahlad, who were engaged in a photo session on the bank of Beas, when they were washed away due to sudden discharge of water in the river from the reservoir of 126 MW Larji project.
The 70-member rescue teams comprising two battalions of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), assisted by police, home guard and local divers and rafters were engaged in rescue operations since morning and one body was recovered from the spot near Thalot while four bodies were fished out from Pandoh dam. "The high volume of water and shortage of boats is causing some problem but we have list of missing persons and hope to recover the bodies. Our jawans are moving in boats and strict vigil is being maintained along the banks of Beas by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams. Twelve divers are also assisting in rescue operations," SSB officials said.
A control room has been set up at Mandi and a helpline has also been provided to assist the relatives of victims. Taking a serious view of the incident, Virbhadra Singh ordered a magisterial enquiry by Divisional Commissioner, Mandi to fix responsibility for the tragedy and suggest measure to stop recurrence of such incidents.
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