Search operation continues after Alaknanda bus tragedy, death toll rises to four

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun

 Another body was recovered out of nine missing people on Friday after a 31-seater bus carrying 20 passengers fell into the Alaknanda river near Gholtir in Rudraprayag district on Thursday morning. The total number of deceased has now reached four, while eight people remain missing as of late Friday evening.

The search and rescue operation continued on the second day following Thursday’s bus accident. The district police, fire service, SDRF, DDRF and water police conducted a joint search operation on Friday morning. The Rudraprayag superintendent of police Akshay Konde said that rescue teams launched the search from early Friday morning, deploying personnel across multiple points between the accident site and Srinagar. Boats and sonar devices were used to scan the river and watchers were deployed at strategic locations along the banks. During the search in the Ratoora area, a body was recovered from the riverbank and transported by road to the district hospital in Rudraprayag. Konde said that the body was identified as Sanjay Soni (55) a resident of Udaipur, Rajasthan.

After completing the necessary legal procedures, including a postmortem and panchanama, the body will be handed over to the family. The search for the remaining eight missing persons will be continued on Saturday too, he added. Meanwhile, the route to Kedarnath Dham remained blocked at two locations between Sonprayag and Gaurikund following overnight rain. The road was cleared for movement around 9 AM by agencies concerned and pedestrian movement of pilgrims was resumed in the afternoon. Authorities have advised all pilgrims to plan their journey based on weather forecasts.