Manipur boat tragedy; all three missing bodies retrieved

Our Correspondent Imphal, May 3 (EMN): After continuous search for five days, bodies of all the three missing persons who went missing after their boats capsized during a storm in the reservoir of Mapithel dam in Kamjong district of Manipur, have been recovered on Friday. The first body identified as S Rajiv (35), a resident of Ningthoukhong Kha Khunou village in Bishnupur district, was recovered on Thursday afternoon when local residents were checking the bed of the reservoir of the dam where the boat had capsized. The search teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force, State police and Fire Services department and 12 naval divers recovered the second and third bodies on Friday. The second and third bodies have been identified as S Romen (29) and N Rani (19) also from Ningthoukhong Kha-Khunou village. The five-day search operation was jointly conducted by the NDRF in association with other stake holders –SDRF, State police and Fire Services department including member naval divers who were airlifted from Vishakapatnam after two boats carrying 12 persons were capsized in the reservoir of the dam when a strong storm raged across the state on Sunday afternoon. In the wake of recent incident, Manipur government has banned operation of all types of unauthorised boats/vessels in reservoirs, rivers, lakes and inland water bodies.