After sever search operation, the rescue workers found three dead bodies of passengers who were travelling in Maharashtra state transport buses which swept away in Savitri River on Wednesday.
The workers of Raigad district lowered 300 kg magnet to trace the missing buses. Navy and Coast Guard personnel also stepped in to search those missing after the old bridge collapsed on Mumbai-Goa Highway near Mahad.
"Three bodies have been recovered. One body, which is of a man, is believed to be that of a driver of one of the buses, while the second body is of a woman. These two bodies are of victims of yesterday's incident," Raigad's Additional Superintendent of Police Sanjay Patil said.
He said “another body has also been recovered, but it is yet to be confirmed if it is of a victim of the bridge collapse mishap. The bodies were fished out of the river at about 50-60 kms from the mishap site.”
A local official said “earlier this morning, a 300 kg magnet was lowered with the help of a crane in the river to trace the missing buses. Something has got stuck to the magnet and efforts are on to pull it out of the river.”
A Defence spokesperson said “navy divers resumed search operations early today, while a Chetak helicopter of the Coast Guard also started sortie of the affected area.”
District officials said “no survivors have been found despite a gruelling search and rescue operation yesterday. one of the buses was proceeding to Mumbai from Jaigad in Raigad, and the other was on its way to Borivali from Rajapur.”
Over 100 NDRF jawans, 28 marine commandos and 25 Coast Guard personnel came into action to search those missing.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis conducted an aerial survey of the area. He was accompanied by PWD Minister Chnadrakant Patil and Leader of Opposition in state Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil. He said that the government will carry out a safety audit of all old bridges in the state so that no mishap takes place in the future.
Also Read: Two Maharashtra State Transport Buses Missing
BY M. DIVYA SRI
