“We are still not sure if there are some more bodies in the river or not”.
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At least five people went missing after a boat capsized in the Hooghly river in West Bengal’s Burdwan district, and alleging delay in rescue operations angry people later ran riot, police said on Sunday.
On Sunday, Burdwan district magistrate put the number of dead at five.
“The boat had over 100 passengers, including many children”. Soumitra Mohan said on Sunday.
Crowd gathers near the recovered bodies at Ganga ghat in Bardhaman on Monday.
Burdwan district magistrate Saumitra Mohan said several teams, including rescuers from the Disaster Management Group, civil defence and private divers, besides 2 teams of National Disaster Response Force were pressed into service to find the missing.
Trinamool Congress leader and minister Swapan Debnath visited the relatives of those admitted at the hospital and assured all help.
Relatives of the victims alleged that the administration was unprepared to handle the rush of people to the fair.
“A total of 19 bodies have been fished out of which 18 have been identified”, a government statement said today.
According to locals, the boat, which was going to Shantipur from Kalna, had passengers onboard more than the permissible limit. They had to cross Bhagirathi river to go back home. The law and order issue arose due to some other reason.
Incensed locals indulged in rioting and set afire several boats in Shantipur’s Nrisinghapur Ghat jetty. An assistant sub inspector Md Iliyas, was injured in the clash.
Police said the incident led to sporadic protests by locals in Shantipur, which turned violent at some places, forcing them to fire rubber bullets and tear gas to break the protests.
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Rescue operations are being hampered by night hours, which make deep diving hard.
