Toll in Hooghly jetty collapse rises to 13

With seven more bodies fished out of the River Hooghly on Friday, the death toll in the jetty collapse at Bhadreswar in Hooghly district rose to 13.

The temporary jetty collapsed during high tide at about 11.30 am on Wednesday at Bhadreswar in Hooghly district.

"We have found 13 bodies so far. We will continue rescue operations as eight people are still missing," said Sukesh Jain, SP, Hooghly.

Sources said members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which have been carrying out rescue operations on 20 speed boats, found the bodies floating in the river along Jagaddal, Chandannagar and Shyamnagar.

Police arrested four in connection to the incident. Police officials said that they would be interrogated during this time. Locals in the area where the ferry collapsed demonstrated on Thursday (April 27), demanding the repair and renovation of all jetties at Bhadreswar.

Plan for upgrade

On Friday, a high-level meeting was held at Nabanna, the state secretariat. It was decided that the state government plans to extend its campaign, 'Safe Drive, Save Life' for water transport as well. Aound 16,000 boats operating illegally. The state will upgrade these boats to semi-mechanised ones.