Bhubaneswar:

The death toll from the Mahanadi river boat capsize in Odisha’s Jharsuguda district rose to eight as six more bodies were recovered on Saturday, an official said on Saturday.

The search operation, which had been ongoing since Friday night, came to an end after the body of a boy was recovered from the Hirakud reservoir in the Mahanadi river, the official said, adding that among the victims were five women and three children.

The victims, all from Anjoripali village of Halsia in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh, were identified as Radhika Nishad (40), Teras Bai Rathia (60), Radhika Rathia (35), Ghasneen Bai Rathia (40) ) and Lacchinin Bai Rathia (40), while the children were identified as Kunal Rathia (9 years old), Nabin Rathia (7 years old) and Tikeswar Rathia (7 years old).

Immediately after the boat capsized on Friday, Odisha Rapid Action Force and fire department personnel launched a search operation and worked with five scuba divers to recover six more bodies from the Mahanadi river, an official said.

“Five divers wearing underwater cameras joined the search and discovered the body,” the official said.

Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) Srikanta Prusty, Jharsuguda district collector Aboli S Naravane and SP Smit P Parmar were camping on the river bank to supervise the search operation.

The incident took place on Friday afternoon when around 50 passengers were returning by boat after visiting a temple in Pattasenikuda in Odisha’s Bargarh district. A police officer said the boat capsized when it was about to reach Sarada Ghat in Lungali district of Jharsugu.

Chhattisgarh government official Rajkumar Gavel said about 50 people were returning from a picnic on the other side of the river when the accident occurred.

Jharsuguda district motor vehicle inspector (MVI) Loknath Meher said: “The boat was not registered and was deemed unfit for operation. Also, there were no life jackets on board. Although it was designed to accommodate 20 people, but the boat was carrying life jackets.” 50 people eventually led to the accident. He said local fishermen rescued 40 passengers and brought them to shore.

Meanwhile, sources said the Chhattisgarh government has made arrangements for the transportation of the body.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed condolences and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh to the families of each victim.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)