Banda boat tragedy: 11 bodies fished out so far, search for others underway

A total of eight bodies were fished out from the Kishanpur ghat on Saturday pushing the death toll to 11 in the August 11 boat capsize incident in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district, police said.

Earlier today six bodies were recovered and two more were retrieved a short time later, police said.

Superintendent of Police Rajesh Singh said that the bodies of five men and three women, have been recovered today and the process of identification is underway. The search operation is being carried forward, he said.

The mishap took place on Thursday morning when a boat carrying between 30 to 40 people was on its way from Marka to Jarauli Ghat in the Fatehpur district. The passengers were on their way to visit relatives on the occasion of Rakshabandhan.

Rescue operations is being carried out by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Kishanpur Police who employed divers.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to provide financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased from the Disaster Relief Fund.

The CM condoled the loss of life and directed the District Magistrate (DM) and Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of the district to conduct a search and rescue operation immediately.

The Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Brajesh Pathak said that the government stands by the people of Banda.

"This was a very heartwrenching incident. I want to assure the people that the government is trying its best to rescue and trace the people. I am in contact with the Banda administration and whatever can be done by the government, we are doing that."

Additional Director General of Police Prashant Kumar had on Friday said that personnel of NDRF, SDRF and a team of local divers were involved in the search for 17 missing people. Rescue operation were halted on Thursday night due to rain resumed the next morning.

According to a native on the spot, "In the boat, around 40 people were on-board, as many as 15 people have returned. The boat capsized after one of its flanks broke, there were 8 women and 4 children on board."

Deputy Inspector General of Police, V.K. had said, "Due to rain, it has been slippery which is causing issues in rescue, bur still teams are working hard to trace the missing people."

"The boatman has been detained and a rescue operation is underway. We all are trying our best and the rescue operation is being conducted under the direction of senior officers," ACS Home Awanish Awasthi had said.

Further details are awaited.

(ANI)

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