Bengal jetty collapse toll rises to 13

Seven more bodies were fished out from the Hooghly river today, taking the toll in Wednesday's jetty collapse in Bhadreswar in Hooghly district to 13, police said.

Superintendent of Police Sukesh Jain said that personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) found the seven bloated bodies, including that of a woman, floating on the river this morning.

The NDRF personnel, who have been carrying out searches in 20 speed boats found the bodies from near Jagaddal, Shyamnagar, Chandan Nagar and Gaurhati ghat along both sides of the river.

Of the 13 victims, seven have been identified, Jain said.

Six bodies were recovered till yesterday.

Five persons were still missing.

These people had gone missing after a portion of a bamboo jetty at Telenipara gave way under the impact of a high tide on Wednesday.

The accident occurred when the passengers were waiting at the jetty for boarding a boat to cross the river and reach Shyamnagar in North 24 Parganas district.

Meanwhile, the four arrested lease-holders of Telenipara jetty in Bhadreswar were remanded to seven days' police custody.

The four were booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder following their arrest yesterday.