Rescue operations continue at Mandi to find more bodies

Telangana Home Minister N Narsimha Reddy said today that hundreds of people are on the lookout for the missing students' bodies in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi.

Reddy, who was present at the scene to keep a check on the operation, told ANI, "600-700 people are currently looking to search for the remaining bodies, and the latest sonar equipments are being used. It is very important to find the rest of the bodies and to see if bodies are there or not, and though the water here is very deep, the team is working well to look for them."

Reddy further added, "The collector has said that if there is no positive outcome from the rescue operation, then the water will be emptied out to trace out the bodies."

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is still on the lookout for the missing bodies of the engineering students who were washed away in the Beas River when water was allegedly released from the Laarji dam without warning. The NDRF had also deployed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to trace the missing bodies.

KA Paul, Ambassador, Global Peace, told ANI, "I am thankful to God and the home minister, who has been camping out here to make sure all the bodies are found and 8 have been found already. Our new Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao has sent the home minister to stay here."

He added, "It is the first time that such a high level search operation is being carried out. Kids at the age of 20 don't know anything, they stand on rocks, touch the water and just enjoy, which is why I feel that a guide should have been provided by the college management to avoid such a mishap. Families of the students are satisfied with the search ops."

The search operations conducted till now have failed to recover the bodies of at least 16 students, who are still missing after the mishap.