Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Jabalpur district administration seems to be confused about the number of passengers aboard the cruise that sank into the Bagri dam on Thursday evening. The administration is frequently changing the figures.
On the night of Thursday, the administration said rescuers had saved 22 passengers. Four of them drowned, and eight went missing. According to the figures provided by the officials of the district administration, there were 34 passengers on the cruise.
But on Friday morning, the officials changed figures, saying the cruise was carrying 24 passengers: six of them died, and eight went missing.
According to the numbers, the cruise was carrying 39 passengers. On the other hand, on the night of May 1, officials said the rescuers saved 28 passengers, and nine of them died, while four went missing. The statistics indicated there were 41 passengers on the cruise.
The Tourism Department Corporation, which operates the cruise, was not acquainted with the number of people the cruise was carrying.
The number of people who bought the tickets was 29; besides the pilot and helper, 10 more people were admitted into the cruise.
According to reports, the children up to eight years old are not required to buy tickets, but the information provided by the officials indicated that there were only four children on the cruise who were less than eight years old.
Thus, it is clear that the officials of the Tourism Development Corporation were not aware of the number of passengers.
Cruise demolished before inquiry
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav ordered a high-level probe into the Bargi Dam tragedy by a technical committee, but even before the inquiry could begin, the officials demolished the cruise with a JCB machine on Saturday. They said they had demolished the cruise, as they wanted to see whether there were bodies in it. On the other hand, there are reports that the purpose of demolishing the cruise may have been to destroy proofs.
