UPDATE: The casualty count has been confirmed at 11 by the Office of the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh 

On Friday, at least 12 people have died after their bodies were recovered at Khatlapura Ghat in Bhopal after the boat they were in, capsized on the morning of September 13. The people had set out for Ganpati Visarjan when the incident happened and the search operation is underway. According to reports, the incident took place at around 4:30 am.

Rescue operation underway

"Five people have been rescued out of 16 and we have recovered 11 bodies till now. A search operation is underway and we are trying to rescue other people as well. According to the locals, only these many people had drowned here, but we are still searching in case we find some other people," Akhil Patel, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. He added that at least 40 police personnel are present at the spot along with other authorities and professional swimmers. "State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) team is also present at the spot," the ASP said.

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The NDRF has said that a country boat carrying 19 persons capsized in Chhota Talab, Khatlapura in Bhopal district. One NDRF team has been deployed for search and rescue along with other agencies. six persons saved themselves by swimming and 12 dead bodies have been retrieved so far. They also said that the search for one more person is going on.  

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Kamal Nath says those found guilty will be punished 

Madhya Pradesh Law Minister, PC Sharma has called the incident “unfortunate” and announced a compensation of 4 lakhs for the families of the deceased by the District Collector. He also said that an investigation will be done. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath has directed officials for a magisterial inquiry into the incident. He said, “Strict action will be taken against those found responsible for the incident.”

Meanwhile, former MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has questioned the administration. He said, "If more people than the capacity were allowed, why was it so? It was administrative negligence."

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