Tragedies mar Christmas festive spirit Dead bodies of 3 trapped in frozen pool Families of three young victims (a boy, his sister and another girl) who got drowned in the icy Sanctuary Lake at western Dzukou on December 26 morning, continue to wait in agony in the hope of being able to see their children whose bodies were yet to be retrieved from the icy waters of the lake. The three victims- Rokosietso Mor class XII student, Ketourovino Mor class IX student (children of Chakholie Mor of Khonoma) and Mhiesikhono Viyie (daughter of Megonilhou Viyie) class IX student- were part of a 12-member group that had gone to see the Lake. On December 26, the group trekked to see the Sanctuary Water Fall, around 45 minutes to 1 hour walking distance from the western Dzokou valley. Captivated by the sight of the frozen waterfall, six of them went to take pictures standing on the top layer of the waterfall which was covered with ice. However, the thin ice began to break up as they posed to take photograph. Three of them managed to get out and also tried to save the other three but in vain. The incident happened at around 10.30 a.m. Friday. The lake underneath the thin ice was freezing cold and it was impossible to get inside to rescue the victims. One of them had to go up to a mountain top in order to get mobile network after which family members were informed at around 12 noon. According to Megovisa Michael Sophi, a social activist from Khonoma village, other members of the group who had witnessed the shocking incident rushed to the village and on the way met Baptist Khriesarii Krotho (BKK) who where holding sports meet- cum picnic at the outskirt of Khonoma and informed about the incident. BKK members then rushed to the spot, taking available equipments with them to break the ice. The neighboring villagers who also heard the news rushed to the site. Despite efforts of over 200 hundred volunteers to crack the icy surface and retrieve the bodies, it was impossible to remain inside the water for even half a minute. The volunteers only managed to retrieve two caps reportedly belonging to the missing persons. The search was stopped owing to darkness. Around 300-400 youths including women folks of the Khonoma and neighboring villages are at the four base camp set up to assist in retrieving the victims. The base camps were set up at Seikhakie (before reaching Dzukou valley) one at the Dzukou valley, one in between Dzukou and sanctuary fall and the other at the sanctuary fall. A team from 19th Assam Rifles also reportedly reached the site Saturday around 5 am while the state police ‘striking force’ also reached the venue. A team from the army cantonment also reached the venue but the bodies have not been retrieved. It was reported, that on Friday, when requested for help, National Disaster Management office in Guwahati had refused unless cleared from Delhi. A 15-member team from the National Disaster Management team was finally dispatched Saturday morning.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 02:35:52 +0000
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