Ganesh Visarjan festival: 3 more bodies fished out from Yamuna, toll up to 20

With three more bodies fished out of the Yamuna on Friday and many people still reported missing since Ganesh Visarjan two days ago, it's turning out to be the biggest drowning tragedy in Delhi in recent years. The death toll from the festival has risen to 20 with the three bodies found at Timarpur Bridge in the Wazirabad area of north Delhi on Friday. Police say complaints of missing people are still coming in at the Sonia Vihar, Timarpur and Burari police stations.

One of the members of a procession from Madipur who lost a relative in the mishap said there was utter chaos and a rowdy crowd pushed a lot of them from the banks into the river. "There was an undercurrent as the place is near the Timarpur barrage. A lot of people were being pushed into the water by the crowd," said Sanjeev Singh, whose brother-in-law died after being pushed into the water by the crowd.

Locals said most of the deaths happened as people entered the waters with idols in the dark, unaware of the river's depth.

However, police officers said the drownings occurred at different places and many of the victims were in an inebriated condition. They had waded deep into the water and didn't pay heed when police personnel tried to stop them. Most of the bodies have been found from Qudsia Ghat near Kashmere Gate, Wazirabad, Burari and Sonia Vihar areas.

DCP north, Sindhu Pillai, said the district police had deployed additional personnel to control the crowd using lights, boats and loudspeakers. "There were people who were in a mood for revelry and did not heed the police's warnings, which led to the maximum number of deaths. Families who had come for the immersion could complete the process without any issues," she said.

Police said the bodies were being identified on the basis of the information and the missing complaints filed by families. The unidentified bodies are being kept in a morgue.

Police officers also pointed out that a request for adequate number of boats, volunteers and public announcement systems was sent to the civic authority days before the immersion but they were not provided the necessary support.

Saturday 21 September 2013

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