Sources says that four persons, identified as Rafiqul Islam, Abdul Malik, Prodyut Chowdhury and Safina Rahman, were still missing
Six more bodies were fished out of the canal a day after the bus accident at Daulatabad area of Murshidabad district on Tuesday, taking the death toll to 42.
People, mainly relatives of those still missing, could be seen flocking at the accident site since early morning, waiting for search operation to resume. They carried Aadhaar and Voter ID cards of those missing. Owing to heavy fog, search operation by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Disaster Management Group (DMG) was delayed but as soon as it began, within a few hours, six more bodies were recovered and were sent to Murshidabad Medical College.
Sources said that four persons, identified as Rafiqul Islam, Abdul Malik, Prodyut Chowdhury and Safina Rahman, were still missing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to express his sorrow regarding the accident. "Anguished by the bus accident in West Bengal's Murshidabad. My thoughts and prayers are with those who lost their loved ones: PM @narendramodi", his tweet read.
President Ram Nath Kovind too tweeted his condolences. "Very sad to learn about the horrific bus accident in Murshidabad, West Bengal. Condolences to the bereaved families and wishing early recovery to those injured #PresidentKovind", he tweeted.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the inspection of the bridge would be done. "By midnight on Monday, bodies have been handed over to the family members. Even the compensation cheques of Rs 5 lakh to each of the families have also been handed over by the district magistrate. Inspection of the bridge should be done and there should be a speed restriction in place," she said on Tuesday.
Leaders of the Opposition parties alleged that the delay in search operations happened owing to administrative carelessness. State Congress president and party MP Adhir Chowdhury said that had it not been the negligence of the state government some more lives could have been saved. "According to the rules there should be a disaster management team at all districts. Why wasn't there any in Murshidabad? Why wasn't any crane available here and those had to be brought in from Krishnanagar?," he said.
CPM MLA Sujan Chakraborty also criticised the state government over relief works.
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