Two more bodies found at Pandoh dam
With the recovery of two dead bodies on Sunday, the 42-day long search operation to trace the 24 missing Hyderabad students who were washed away on June 8 in Thalaut near Mandi almost came to an end.
"We have recovered two more bodies from the dam on the 42nd day of the rescue operation. The bodies have been identified," Pankaj Rai, additional district magistrate for Mandi, said.
The remains of Dasari Srinidhi, daughter of Raja Reddy, resident of Karim Nagar, and Kasarla Reddy, daughter of Krishna Reddy of Bachupally area in Hyderabad, were recovered from Pandoh dam, located 18 kms uphill from Mandi, police said.
Pandoh dam in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh
A tour operator and twenty-four students, including six female students, from VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology in Hyderabad were washed away on June 8 in Thalaut as the Larji dam officials had discharged dam water without any warning.
The students were clicking photos standing on the rocks in the middle of the river when the water was released without warning.
As the initial four days of rescue operations post tragedy didn't lead to any convincing result, the state government was under pressure to reinforce the rescue team.
The decision resulted in the biggest ever rescue team comprising 600 rescuers that included the National Disaster Response Force, the armed forces, the Indian Tibet Border Force, home guards and police personnel.
The rescue managers also deployed some state-of-the-art devices to boost the operation.
