Two teams of the National Disaster Response Force, which include deep water divers, have been rushed to help with the rescue operations at Mandi in Himachal Pradesh where about 24 students are feared to have been washed away in the Beas.
The NDRF teams, comprising 84 personnel, have been dispatched following a directive from Home Minister Rajnath Singh, a Home Ministry official said on Sunday night.
Around 24 engineering students, including some girls, from Hyderabad are >feared to have been washed away on Sunday evening in the Beas Thalot on the Manali-Kiratpur highway, 40-km from Mandi.
The incident occurred when the students, who were taking photographs on the banks of the Beas, were swept away after water was released from the reservoir of the 126 MW Larji Hydropower Project.
According to information available with authorities in Shimla, 18 boys and six girls are feared drowned in the tragedy. —PTI
