Rains, fog didn't stop team from recovering bodies: Collector

Rains and fog could not dampen the spirit of rescue personnel engaged in recovery of bodies in the Poladpur bus accident which claimed 30 lives, a senior district administration official said today.

"The rescue personnel did not rest till all the bodies were recovered from the 800-feet deep gorge where the bus fell on Sunday," Raigad district collector Dr Vijay Suryawanshi said.

The accident site, near Poladpur in Raigad district, is around 180 km from Mumbai. All the bus passengers were from the Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth at Dapoli in Ratnagiri district.

"At one moment, all those in the bus were laughing and having fun and the next moment everything was over for them, except for the lone survivor," Suryawanshi told PTI.

"As soon as the news of the tragedy reached us, the district administration swung into action. We deployed 15 ambulances and five trekking groups and started the rescue operation," the Collector said.

Suryawanshi, who reached the accident site soon after the tragedy, said, "On seeing the (accident) spot, it looked like a Herculean task because of the vertical valley drop of almost 800 feet."