Search op goes on, no trace of missing trio
SRINAGAR The search to find three persons who went missing after a boat was capsized in Jhelum river in Srinagar continued on Wednesday.
Six people, including two children and their mother, were killed and three went missing as a boat carrying the students to school on Tuesday morning capsized on the Jhelum in Srinagar. All the children on the board studied in the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Sonwar across the river.
Officials said rescue teams of State Disaster Response Force, National Disaster Response Force and Indian Navy’s Marine Commandos (MARCOS) searched the turbid water of the river Jhelum 4-5 km downstream from Gandbal to Raj Bagh while divers went under water to look for any signs of the missing persons.
Kashmir inspector general of police Vidhi Kumar Birdi said “We are searching the river but so far we couldn’t find anything. The search operation is still going on.”
The teams are looking for Farhan Waseem Parray, 7, Showkat Ahmad Sheikh, 40 and his son Haziq Showkat, 9.
Their families along with hundreds of people lined the banks of river Jhelum waiting for any trace of their loved ones. “He has two daughters. He is a mason. We have nobody him,” said Showkat Ahmad’s distraught mother, Fatima.
“My husband is also dead. My son had constructed this small house after taking a loan. How will I repay the loan? Who will take care of his daughters,” the septuagenarian said.
Birdi said, “These specialised divers have their own understanding of the water and its currents. They are searching areas where there is a high probability of finding anything. They are not only diving but looking at places where the momentum of water breaks and there is more probability of finding a body.”
The officials are also expecting that the bodies might come up.
Locals and survivors of Gandbal pointed out that the two banks were just 500 m apart, but that they were forced to make the treacherous trip across in the boats because the nearest bridge is 2 km away. They also added that a footbridge, along the accident spot, has been under construction for nearly a decade.
₹5L relief to victims’ kin
Kashmir divisional commissioner Vijay Kumar Bidhuri and Srinagar DC Bilal Mohi-UdDin Bhat on Wednesday met the family members of the deceased, government spokesperson said. The officials consoled the loss the life and provided an ex-gratia of ₹5 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased.
Mirwaiz seeks answers
Hurriyat leader and chief priest of Kashmir’s grand mosque Jamia Masjid Mirwaiz Umar Farooq sought answers from the lieutenant governor led administration over non-completion of the footbridge at Gandbal and other places along the river.