Jabalpur Boat Tragedy Deaths Climb To 13 As Last Body Recovered From Dam

The bodies of a five-year-old boy and his uncle were recovered from Bargi Dam in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district on Sunday morning, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy to 13, police said.

The boat, around 20 years old and operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening.

"The bodies of Mayuram (5) and his uncle Kamraj (around 50), an employee of the Ordnance Factory in Khamaria, were found floating and were fished out of the dam," Bargi Sub Divisional Officer of Police Anjul Ayank Mishra told PTI over the phone.

All 13 missing persons identified have now been accounted for, he said, adding the bodies were sent to a government hospital for postmortem.

Teams comprising around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, along with personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, were involved in the search operation, the police said.

Of the 41 identified passengers on board the vessel, 28 were rescued after the incident, according to the police.

The CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat, though the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far, they said.

The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the incident and dismissed three crew members. It also banned the operation of similar vessels in the state.

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