Two persons died and at least four others were injured after their boat capsized in Lidder river, Pahalgam, on Tuesday.
The mishap occurred during the ongoing three-day-longRafting championship organized by the tourism department in memory of Rouf Dar,who drowned in the same river while rescuing tourists.
The department has ordered a probe into the incident even assources revealed to Greater Kashmir that the boat capsized after the day’sevent had concluded.
“On Monday it was inauguration and practice day. Today thesprint and head to head events were held which closed by 3pm. On the concludingday tomorrow, only marathon event was scheduled followed by prize distributionceremony,” an official said. He said the commercial rafting support teams andother rescuers had also called it a day.
But the incident, he said, occurred around 4pm. After theday’s events were over, he added, a few participants urged tourism officials toprovide them with a boat for a joyride.
“The tourismofficials obliged and six persons including an employee boarded the boat whiletwo guides also accompanied them,” the official said. The boat capsized as soonas it reached near the finishing rope.
The two guides on board managed to swim across afterrescuing four persons, but the other two drowned. The bodies of the deceasedwere fished out by the rescue team and taken to the district hospital Anantnagfor medico-legal formalities.
The deceased were identified as Rinku Raja Pandita, aKashmiri Pandit originally hailing from Mattan but currently living in Jammu.He was an employee with the Tourism department, tasked with managingtransportation for the participants during the championship in Pahalgam. Thegirl who died in the mishap has been identified as Sanjana from Reasi, Jammu.The bodies will be flown to Jammu for last rites.
The condition of the injured, all residents of Jammu, isstated to be stable.
Rouf Dar, 34, an assistant tourist guide, died whilerescuing the tourists after their boat capsized in the Lidder earlier thismonth.
Seven people were on the boat when it capsized after it wascaught in gusty winds. His sacrifice was widely hailed.
TOURISM DEPARTMENT TO CONDUCT INQUIRY
The Department of Tourism Kashmir will conduct an inquiryinto today’s incident, an official handout read.
The SDRF, police, and volunteers managed to rescue otherrafters within 15 minutes of the incident, it added.
“The department has expressed deep regrets over the incidentand expressed sympathies with the bereaved families,” the handout said.