Himachal tragedy: One more body found, 12 still missing

Rescuers on Friday found the body of an engineering student who was among the 25 youth who were swept away in gushing waters of the Beas river on June 8 and with this the bodies of 13 students have been recovered so far. The swollen body surfaced on Friday and was taken out of the river from Pandoh Dam. “The victim was identified as B Mehan Sai Raj,” said RS Negi, superintendent of police Mandi.

Twenty-four engineering students and a co-tour leader of Hyderabad were drowned when the Larji hydropower authorities suddenly released 450 cusecs of water from the barrage.

The bodies of eleven students including three girls and a co-tour leader are yet to be recovered. “The bodies have started surfacing and rescue teams are hopeful that more bodies would be found in the next two three days,” said Devesh Kumar, deputy commissioner, Mandi.

It was the 12th day of intensive search by 600 rescue men of National Disaster Response Force, Army, police and Indi-Tibetan Border Police, helped by 50 expert divers.