Hyderabad: The body of an engineering student, who went missing after Sunday night’s fire on a boat and a floating jetty in Hussain Sagar Lake here, was found on Tuesday.
The body of 21-year-old S. Ajay was recovered near Tank Bund on Tuesday evening.
The search operation involving personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Fire Department lasted for 45 hours.
Seven boats were used for the search operation.
Six persons were injured when fireworks were set off from a boat and a jetty in the lake as part of the ‘Bharat Mata Maha Harati’ programme at People’s Plaza on Necklace Road abutting the lake.
Ganapati (22), one of the injured, succumbed at a private hospital on Tuesday morning.
With the recovery of Ajay’s body, the death toll in the incident has gone up to two.
Ajay, a final year B.Tech student of Geetanjali Engineering College, had gone to Hussain Sagar with his friends Sai Sandeep and Raghavendra.
According to police, Raghavendra had not paid money for firecrackers purchased from a trader Manikantha in the past.
When he called Manikantha to pay the money, the latter asked him to come to the lake as he was there for the fireworks as part of the ‘Bharat Mata Maha Harati’ programme.
The three friends went to the lake on a bike.
After making payment to the trader, the friends boarded the boat which sailed into the lake with firecrackers.
When the boat caught fire during the firecrackers, the friends got separated.
Sai Sandeep and Raghavendra escaped with injuries and were admitted to Gandhi Hospital.
As they did not find Ajay, they alerted the police and his friends.
The police with NDRF launched the search for Ajay on Monday morning.
Their efforts did not yield results on Monday.
They finally found the body on Tuesday evening.
Ajay is believed to have jumped into the lake to save himself when the boat caught fire.
Ganapati (22), who was admitted to Yashoda Hospital in a critical condition, succumbed while undergoing treatment.
The youth hailing from West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh had sustained 100 per cent superficial burns.
Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma and Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy attended the ‘Bharat Mata Maha Harati’ programme.
They had left the venue after the cultural performance by artists and the speeches.
According to fire services department officials, the organisers did not seek permission for the fireworks display.
They said fire safety teams and equipment are kept on standby during such events.
However, in this case, no such arrangements were made as the organisers had not informed the police or the fire department.
It took a long time for the rescue teams to reach the boat and the jetty.
Bharat Mata Foundation had organised the programme on the occasion of Republic Day.
The organisation has been organising the programme every year for the last seven years.
The Secretariat Police registered a case on a complaint by an official at Lumbini Park.
(IANS)
