River Tragedy: Rescue operation on, five bodies recovered

Hyderabad/Shimla, June 9 : Rescue workers on Monday recovered the bodies of five students who were washed away in the flooded Beas river on Sunday evening.

At least 24 students, including six girls, of the V.N.R. Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology in Hyderabad went missing after strong currents in the Beas river washed them away. Meanwhile, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Virbhadra Singh has reached the spot and ordered the Mandi’s Deputy Commissioner Devesh Kumar to enquire into the incident.

The Himachal Pradesh Government has suspended the project engineer in charge of the Larji Dam from which water has released. The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) force is conducting the rescue operation.

Meanwhile, Telangana Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy has reached Kullu to personally oversee the rescue and relief operations. The Telangana Government has arranged a special flight to take the parents of victims to Chandigarh and also to bring them back along with the students who have survived and stranded.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who was informed about the incident during the cabinet meeting on Sunday evening, had directed the Home Minister to rush to the spot along with Disaster Management Commissioner BR Meena and Grey Hounds SP Karthikeyan.

KCR has also spoken to the Himachal Pradesh CM and requested him to take immediate relief measures. Chief Secretary Dr Rajiv Sharma has contacted the Officials of Union Home Ministry and Defence and other agencies to rescue the bodies to Hyderabad. ITBP and NDRF have also been pressed into service to locate the dead bodies.

The Government of Telangana have already given requisition to Defence Ministry for Helicopter and Aircraft for Chandigarh and thereafter to spot of incident in Kulu and to bring the bodies back to Delhi and thereafter to Hyderabad. Air Costa has also been asked to take parents to Himachal Pradesh and bring them back to Hyderabad along with survived students.  INN