Mandi, Himachal Pradesh (June 09, 2014): According to recent media reports the rescue workers today recovered five bodies from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district while the fate of 19 others washed away in the flooded Beas river was still not known.
24 students fear dead in Beas river in Himachal Pradesh
At least 24 students, including six girls, of the VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology in Hyderabad were reported missing after strong currents in the mighty Beas river washed them away. Their chances of survival of the rest of them were bleak, officials said.
More than 60 students and faculty members were on an excursion to the picturesque tourist resort of Manali.
Some of them were getting themselves photographed on the banks of the river in Thalaut area near the Hanogi Mata temple when they were reportedly washed away when the water level rose after discharge from a reservoir of the 126 MW Larji hydel power project around 2km away.
The incident took place in Thalaut on Manali-Kiratpur Highway, 40km from district headquarters Mandi. A massive search operation was launched to track the students, but there was no success due to darkness.
The victims were travelling in two buses.