Manali tragedy: 5 bodies flown back to Hyderabad

Mandi: The bodies of five engineering students of the Beas tragedy were flown back to Hyderabad this evening. About 20 students of the group also returned to Hyderabad on the same plane. [caption id=“attachment_1563449” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Bodies being transported. AFP[/caption] Civil Aviation Minister Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju arrived in Kullu today on an Air India plane along with some family members of the missing students. The families accompanying the Union minister stayed backin the hope that the bodies of their kin may be recovered tomorrow when the search operation resumes. So far, the bodies of four girls and a boy have been recovered while 19 students and one tour guide are still missing. Meanwhile, the Larji project authorities have claimed that they followed the protocol and all three alarms were sounded before release of the water. They said that the 55cm gate of the project was opened at 6.15 PM and the other 1.5mt gate was opened at 6.45 PM, which caused the flash flood. Eyewitnesses said that only about six students were at the bank of the Beas river when the cascade of water came and the rest of the missing students had jumped into the river to save their classmates.   PTI