The death toll in Monday’s Dhenkanal boat capsize incident rose to four on Tuesday even as two more passengers were still missing. While 18-year-old girl Rubina Rout of Surapratapur of Bhuban block died at the hospital on Monday night, three bodies, including a girl’s, were recovered on Tuesday.
The deceased were identified as Kalia Mohanty (13) of Surapratappur, Satya Narayan Swain (9) and Sagarika Mallick. Satya’s body was recovered from Chitalpur Ghat of Bhuban. The rescue teams recovered the body of Sagarika from Bhusal Ghat.
Meanwhile, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said a compensation of `4 lakh would be given to each of the kin of the deceased from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
Search and rescue missions were on by two ODRAF teams and fire service personnel. The boatman has been absconding after the tragedy.
While the cause of the mishap was yet to be ascertained, district Collector Roopa Roshan Sahoo attributed it to overloading of passengers and prior damages in the boat based on a preliminary investigation.
“The boat is a fisherman boat. It also had defects. The rower had refused to ferry the passengers, who, however, insisted him to move ahead. It was also loaded beyond capacity which led to the incident. We have deployed two ODRAF teams to carry out search and rescue mission. More teams would be roped in if the existing teams ask for support,” said the Collector.
The incident occurred late Monday evening after 30-35 villagers of Surapratappur boarded the boat to travel to lord Daudeswar’s shrine in Gondia block of the district to witness the Jagar Mela (Shivaratri celebrations). The boat capsized in river Brahmani at Chandipal Ghat under Bhuban block.
While many managed to swim ashore, six went missing before two of them being rescued in critical conditions. Out of the two, Rubina succumbed to her injuries at the hospital.
Meanwhile, the State Government on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the incident. The Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) directed the district Collector to probe into the mishap and submit a report.
“The boat left Chandipal Ghat, which is not a Government-auctioned ghat,” SRC Mohapatra informed.