Bodies of 2 suspected Mahad tragedy victims found in Ratnagiri

Mumbai, Aug 20 (PTI) Two highly decomposed bodies,suspected to be those of Mahad bridge collapse incidentvictims, have been found at Velas beach in Ratnagiri district,nearly 60 km away from the mishap site, district authoritiessaid here today. "The two bodies were found at Velas beach in Ratnagiridistrict yesterday by local residents and local administrationinformed us about it. Since the bodies are highly decomposedand beyond recognition, DNA tests would be conducted toascertain their identity," a senior Raigad district officialsaid. The death toll in the Mahad bridge collapse incident hasreached 28 after navy divers on August 14 found the wreckageof a washed away SUV and recovered two bodies trapped insideit on August 14. "The process of verifying the bodies found at Velas isunderway and their DNA samples would be taken to see if theymatch with those of the relatives of Mahad victims, who areyet to be traced," the official said. Satish Bagal, Resident Deputy Commissioner of Raigaddistrict said, "The bodies would not be shifted to Raigad, butkept in a rural hospital in Ratnagiri district. The process toretrieve the DNA samples is on and it would be tallied withthe samples of the relatives." "Only if the test results show that the DNA samples arematching, we can declare that they are victims of Mahad bridgecollapse incident. Once that is done, their relatives can begiven compensation," Bagal added. The state government has announced a compensation of Rs14 lakh each to the kin of deceased travelling in the MSRTCbuses and Rs 10 lakh each to the family of the deceased inother vehicles involved in the tragedy. Two buses of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation(MSRTC) and a few private vehicles were washed away after thebridge crashed amid heavy rains on August 2. The decades-old structure on Savitri river was to bedismantled in December this year as part of the Mumbai-GoaHighway expansion project. PTI APM NPIKARYS