Odisha boat capsize: Dealth toll rises to 28, Rahul meets bereaved family members of deceased

By Swapna Banerjee   Sambalpur,Feb. 10: With the fishing out of 18 more bodies, the death toll in the Hirakud reservoir boat capsize in Odisha rose to 28 on Monday.

Three more people were still missing.

“The rescue teams fished out 18 bodies from the reservoir today. Three more persons are still missing,” special relief commissioner (SRC) Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra said.

At least 10 bodes were recovered on Sunday evening.

“Specially trained scuba divers, members of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and fire brigade personnel carried out the rescue operation for over 12 hours today. The exercise would be resumed on Tuesday morning,” the SRC said.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik asked two senior ministers of the state – finance minister Prasanna Acharya and revenue minister Surya Narayan Patro, to proceed to Hirakud and oversee the rescue operation.

The chief minister, who is in New Delhi, announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1.5 lakh each for next of kin of the deceased and also ordered for a probe by the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC).

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who was on a two-day trip to the state, cancelled all his engagements in the morning and flew to Hirakud with Union minister Srikant Jena and met the bereaved family members of the deceased.

Congress state president Jayadev Jena, Lok Sabha member Bhakta Charan Das and party state in-charge B.K. Hariprasad also accompanied Mr Gandhi.

The mishap, according to survivors, occurred around 4.30 pm on Sunday when a mechanized boat carrying around 120 passengers on board capsized in the reservoir due to overloading.

All the victims belonged to the local Sambalpur town.

Making a statement in the Assembly, parliamentary affairs minister Kalpataru Das said members of Lions Club, Sambalpur, along with their family members had gone to an island inside the reservoir for a picnic party.

While returning, the engine of the boat seized and water started entering into the vessel.

“Halfway during the return journey, the engine of the boat stopped working and could not move forward. Without continuous motion, the boat lost its balance and there was panic among the passengers. A boat ferrying nearby after dropping its passengers at the shore, rushed to the ill-fated boat. However, by the then the boat was totally filled with water and the panicky passengers tried to get over to the rescue boat simultaneously in order to save their lives. As a result, the boat lost its balance and capsized,” the minister informed the House.