The Mahad tragedy is turning out to be a huge one with 14 bodies having been recovered from Savitri river so far during search operations launched after two buses and some private vehicles got swept away following the collapse of a British-era Bridge on Tuesday night.
Chief Minster Devendra Fadnavis, however, said in the Legislative Assembly that eight bodies were recovered so far, and 42 people are missing.
"Fourteen bodies have been found today. Of them, three are of women and 11 of men. Most of the bodies were found within the periphery of 15 km (from the site of bridge collapse), while the farther limit where some bodies were found is 45 km.
"We have asked all villages located on the banks of the river to alert administration if they happen to spot anybody floating in the river," Raigad district Residential Deputy Collector, Satish Bagal told PTI tonight.
Raigad district Additional SP Sanjay Patil also confirmed that 14 bodies have been found so far.
Making a statement in Assembly in the evening, the CM said, "Eight bodies have been found while 42 people are still missing in Mahad tragedy."
He said the government has decided to give Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased in the tragedy.
The government has already announced that the kin of the deceased staff members of two state-run buses would either be given job or compensation of Rs 10 lakh each.
The British-era bridge is located on Mumbai-Goa Highway near Mahad, about 170 km from Mumbai. Prima facie, the river, which turned into torrent due to heavy downpour in its catchment area in Mahabaleshwar, weakened the foundations of the nearly-century-old bridge, which ultimately gave way on Tuesday night.
