Kashmir boat capsize tragedy: Nine-year-old boy’s body retrieved from Jhelum

Locals found the body of nine-year-old school student Haziq Showkat near Old Zero Bridge, around 4-km downstream from the site of the tragedy at Gandbal, Kashmir

Eleven days after the capsizing of a boat in river Jhelum in Srinagar, a minor boy’s dead body was retrieved from the river on Friday.

Six people had died and three went missing after the boat capsized in Jhelum at Gandbal, Kashmir. (HT File)

Locals found the body of nine-year-old school student Haziq Showkat near Old Zero Bridge, around 4-km downstream from the site of the tragedy at Gandbal and informed police. Haziq’s father, Showkat Ahmad Sheikh, 40, and another minor, Farhan Waseem Parray, are still missing.

“They have found the body of Haziq Showkat. His family has identified the body,” said a local of Gandbal.

The boy’s body was taken to SMHS Hospital for necessary medical formalities. Hundreds of people rushed to Gandbal to mourn the death and offer condolences to the family as they waited for the body to reach home.

“The body was floating on the surface and we were informed by the people who saw the body with his school shoes on. His parents identified the body,” a police official of Raj Bagh police station said.

Earlier six people, including two children and their mother, were killed in Srinagar’s Gandbal as a boat in Jhelum carrying the students to school on April 16 capsized.

Locals and survivors of Gandbal have pointed out that the two banks were just 500-m apart, but that they were forced to make the treacherous trip across in the boats because the nearest bridge is 2 km away. They also added that a footbridge, along the accident spot, has been under construction for nearly a decade.

Officials said that the rescue teams of J&K Police, SDRF, NDRF and Marcos continue the searches from Gandbal to Raj Bagh in Srinagar. The search operation to find the missing persons has now entered day 11. Local volunteers are also helping the rescue teams in the search.

“The search operation will continue till the other two missing persons are traced,” the police officer added.

The tragedy has prompted collective grief among the people in the valley. People in many mosques during Friday prayers today sought divine intervention so that the families find their bodies and get a closure of the tragedy.

“This is so painful to bear. The families have lost their beloved and have not yet received their bodies. We all should pray for them,” Mohammad Yaqoob, a cleric in downtown Srinagar said.

The government has announced an ex-gratia relief of ₹5 lakh to each family who lost their loved ones and ₹50,000 to each injured.