Kashmir boat capsize tragedy: Another minor boy’s body retrieved from Jhelum, death toll rises to 8
The body of seven-year-old Farhan Waseem Parray, a Class 1 student, was found floating over the river surface at Noorbagh, around 15km downstream from the site of the tragedy at Gandbal
Another minor boy’s dead body was retrieved from the Jhelum river in Srinagar on Saturday, 12 days after he drowned, along with many others, when a boat capsized in the river. The toll in the tragedy has now risen to eight while one person is still missing.
The body of seven-year-old Farhan Waseem Parray, a Class 1 student, was found floating over the river surface at Noorbagh, around 15km downstream from the site of the tragedy at Gandbal. On Friday, the locals found the body of nine-year-old school student Haziq Showkat near Old Zero Bridge, around 4km downstream. Haziq’s father, Showkat Ahmad Sheikh, 40, remains missing.
“Farhan’s body was found at Noorbagh. His family identified his body,” said Adnan Ashraf, a local of Gandbal.
A police official said the area where the body was found comes under Safa Kadal police station.
The boy’s body was taken to SMHS Hospital for necessary medical formalities. Despite the incessant rains, hundreds of people participated in his funeral amid sobs at Gandbal.
“He was laid to rest at the family’s traditional graveyard. We now pray that the other missing person’s body is also found,” the local said.
On April 16, six people, including two children and their mother, were killed in Srinagar’s Gandbal as a boat in Jhelum carrying the students to school capsized.
Locals and survivors of Gandbal have pointed out that the two banks were just 500m apart, but that they were forced to make the treacherous trip across in the boats because the nearest bridge is 2km away. They also added that a footbridge, along the accident spot, has been under construction for nearly a decade.
Officials said the rescue teams of J&K Police, SDRF, NDRF and Marcos have continued the searches from Gandbal to Raj Bagh in Srinagar. Local volunteers are also helping the rescue teams in the search.
“The search teams reached Noorbagh to see if there were any chances of finding the final missing person,” the police official said.
The tragedy has prompted collective grief among the people in the valley. The government has provided an ex-gratia relief of ₹5 lakh to each family who lost their loved ones and ₹50,000 to each injured.
