Other States - Orissa

Boat capsize: two bodies fished out

CUTTACK: After nearly 36 hours of the boat capsize in which five devotees had gone missing in the river Mahanadi near Dhabaleswar temple on Monday morning, the rescuers managed to fish out two bodies from the river till Tuesday evening.

Although, expert divers joined the rescue team of Odraf and fire brigade personnel, only two bodies were retrieved and there was no trace of the remaining three. The water level was very deep where the boat had capsized, the rescuers said.

The bodies of Srikant Moharana (35) and his three-year-old daughter Namita of Keonjhar district were fished out, said a local police officer. The overcrowded country boat had capsized midstream when over 30 devotees were crossing the river. Sources said the damaged boat apparently lost control when the boatman and his assistant were collecting fares from the passengers in the mid-stream.

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