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Vrindavan boat tragedy: Toll reaches 15 as 2 more bodies recovered from Yamuna
Ten bodies were recovered immediately after the Vrindavan boat accident, with five more found over the weekend and Monday.
Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain said Pankaj Malhotra of Jalalabad is still missing. (PTI Photo)
The death toll in the Vrindavan boat tragedy climbed to 15 as of Monday morning after search teams recovered two more bodies from the Yamuna River in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura district and at least one person still remains missing, said the Ludhiana police.
Last Friday, a boat ferrying pilgrims from Punjab capsized at the Keshi Ghat in the holy town of Vrindavan. The pilgrims were mostly from the small town of Jagraon in Ludhiana district, and some others from Ludhiana city and other districts of Punjab.
Himanshu Jain, Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, told The Indian Express that bodies of two more victims, Monika and Yash Bhalla, both from Ludhiana city, were fished out Monday. Pankaj Malhotra of Jalalabad is still missing.
Jain said the Ludhiana district administration was in constant touch with their counterparts in Vrindavan. “We are trying our best to ensure that the families do not face any issue in bringing the bodies of their loved ones back home for the last rites,” said Jain.
At least 37 people were on the boat when it reportedly collided with a drum of a pontoon bridge leading to the accident. While 10 bodies were recovered on day one, three more were subsequently found as the families of missing persons from Punjab continued to camp on the riverbank. One body was recovered on Saturday, and two more on Sunday morning.
The tour to Vrindavan was organised by the Jagraon-based Banke Bihari Club and a motley group of 132 people in two buses had left for the pilgrimage on April 9. Hours later, on April 10, a group of 30-40 people went boating at Keshi Ghat, where the tragedy struck.
What has sparked widespread outrage is the alleged negligence of the boatman and contractor, as well as the lack of safety measures.
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A video of the pilgrims chanting “Radhe Radhe” moments before the accident showed that none of them was wearing a lifejacket
. Preliminary reports also suggest the boat was overloaded and lacked basic safety measures. Many of the pilgrims did not know how to swim.
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