Boat tragedy near Vaikom: Body of stringer of Malayalam news channel found

The body of a stringer of a Malayalam news channel, who had gone missing following a country boat tragedy in a canal near Vaikom, was found on Tuesday, police said.

Body of Saji, stringer of Mathrubhumi news channel, was found soon after the diving teams of fireforce and Navy resumed search operation on Tuesday morning, they said.

His body will be handed over to his relatives after autopsy at the Government Medical College hospital, Kottayam, they added.

The rescue mission was still on to trace Bipin, the missing car driver of the news channel team.

Two members of the media team that had gone to cover the flood-hit areas near Vaikom were reported missing on Monday as the country boat carrying them capsized in the canal.

Mathrubhumi channel’s Kottayam staff reporter K B Sreedharan and cameraman Abhilash, who were also in the boat, were rescued by local people in another boat.

The ferryman was also rescued by them.

Police, fire and rescue service personnel and locals had launched a search soon after the incident last afternoon but had to be called off by night fall.

Sreedharan and Abhilash have been admitted to a hospital.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)