Over 12 days after the Mahad tragedy, rescue teams recovered the wreckage of an SUV and a state transport bus, which were washed away in the turbulent Savitri river, after the British-era bridge collapsed
Over 12 days after the Mahad tragedy, rescue teams recovered the wreckage of an SUV and a state transport bus, which were washed away in the turbulent Savitri river, after the British-era bridge collapsed. Two bodies were found inside the car. Although 12 people are still missing, National Disaster Response Force, Indian Navy and Coast Guard were asked to leave as the rescue operation came to an end. Local fishermen and villagers in the area and some nearby districts have been asked to alert police if more bodies are washed ashore.
Wreckage of the first MSRTC bus found last week. Pic/PTI
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Lost and found
Nine days after the August 2 incident, wreckage of an MSRTC bus was found from a distance of 150 to 200 metres from the site. “Fishing out the bus took up a lot of time as it was nighttime. On Sunday, we traced the SUV. We found two male bodies inside it. The stink emanating from the car alerted our forces,” Lieutenant Commander Shirish Pavle, Indian Navy, said.
Mahad sub-divisional officer Sushma Satpute said all missing vehicles have been traced. “Around 40 people were missing, but we have found 28 and 12 are yet to be traced.”
NDRF’s lesson
The NDRF team claim they got to learn a lot while on this rescue mission. “We learnt many new techniques during this operation. We used echo sound sensors, utilised GPS system to connect phones with rescue boats. The rescue operation will be continued by local fisherman, who will search in a 10-km radius, including Harihareshwar and Dapoli,” said NDRF commandant Anupam Srivastav.
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