the goan I network
CURCHOREM
“On the collector’s request, navy divers halted operations at about 3.30 am and resumed their search on Friday morning. A Chetak helicopter sortie was also pressed into service along the river
for an aerial search,” said a statement by Commander Rahul Sinha.
“The tides and wind currents compelled us to expand our search operations, while the rainfall early Friday morning also affected the operations to some extent,” NDRF team inspector Mohammad Shakeel told The Goan. “Since there was no definite number of persons missing, we continued our search throughout the day,” he added.
Also complicating matters for the search and recovery agencies was the presence of crocodiles in the river.
“Crocodiles are known to be present in the area and precautions were taken for safety of navy divers,” said
Commander Sinha.
Admitting that this had been a concern, Shakeel said the NDRF team had not encountered any crocodile during their search operation,
“But in any case, our team took utmost care and a special boat moved round the area, so that the sound would are repel crocodiles from the site,” he said.
Incidentally, the collapse of the old footbridge which got overloaded with onlookers did little to deter a larger group of onlookers converging at the new Sanvordem bridge on Friday to witness the joint search operations.
