Fire breaks out in MP secretariat building, nobody injured
Bhopal (PTI): A fire broke out on the third floor of the multi-storey Madhya Pradesh state secretariat building here on Saturday morning, officials said.
Nobody was reported injured in the incident, they said.
Some sanitation workers noticed smoke at the Vallabh Bhawan - as the secretariat building is officially known - around 9.30 am, following which the fire brigade was alerted, sources said.
"The blaze has been brought under control by the firefighters and further work is on. Now, only smoke is emanating from the third floor where the documents have been kept," Bhopal Municipal Corporation's Fire Officer Rameshwar Neel told PTI.
Fifteen to twenty fire tenders have been pressed into service, he said.
The sources said that some sanitation workers, who were working near the gate number 5 and 6 of the secretariat complex, noticed the smoke, following which the authorities were informed.
VIDEO | Fire breaks out at state secretariat building in #Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Several fire tenders at the spot. More details are awaited.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 9, 2024
(Full video available on PTI - https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/EonjlewVm1
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 10 with recovery of one more body; 3 tourists still missing
Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time.
The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra.
"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI.
Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing.
Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added.
Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said.
More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.
Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said.
Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.
