The death toll in the February 16 bus accident in Sidhi in Madhya Pradesh touched 54 after the body of the last missing person was retrieved from a canal on Saturday, leading to the search operation being called off, officials said.
A bus carrying 61 people, including the driver, had plunged into the canal near Patna village, some 80 kilometres from the district headquarters, while coming from Satna.
The body of Arvind Vishwakarma, the last person whose whereabouts were unknown post the mishap, was recovered from a spot in the canal that was 30 kilometres from the accident site, said Sidhi Collector Ravindra Kumar Sharma.
"The spot is in neighbouring Rewa district. With this the five-day long rescue operation has now been called off as all bodies have been fished out," he said.
The search operation was carried out on a 35-kilometre stretch of the canal, officials said.
The bus, with a capacity of 32, was carrying 61 people, including the driver, when it plunged into the canal, leaving 54 dead, while seven survived.
