The bodies of four of the 25 engineering students from Hyderabad washed away in the Beas on Sunday were recovered on Monday. A search is on for the others.
The students were caught in the water released from the Larji hydroelectric power project. The parents and the students who escaped said there was no warning, a charge countered by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.
Transport Minister G.S. Bali, coordinating the rescue operations, told The Hindu that the administration was planning a massive search on Tuesday after closing the gates of the Larji and the Pandoh dams near Mandi. Inspector-General of Police P.C. Thakur said most of the bodies should be stuck underneath amid huge boulders and multiple silt layers. One of the bodies was recovered from the Pandoh dam, whose floodgates were closed soon after the tragedy. The bodies of Ankula Vijetha, Banothu Rambabu, Gampala Aishwarya and Lakshmi Gayathri Appanabhotla were flown to Hyderabad in an Army helicopter, Telangana Home and Labour Minister N. Narshima Reddy said.
