Search for Gandbal boat capsize tragedy victim ends, body recovered from Jhelum

Srinagar, Jan 19: The body of Showkat Ahmad Sheikh, one of the victims of 2024 Gandbal boat capsize tragedy, was recovered from the Jhelum river on Monday, bringing an end to the prolonged search operation, locals said.

Locals from the area informed the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that the missing man, whose body had remained untraced since the tragedy, was found and retrieved today.

Earlier, elite divers of MARCOS, assisted by the SDRF’s Quick Response Team (QRT), had conducted extensive underwater searches, but the body was not recovered during those operations.

It was eventually retrieved by residents from the river stretch near the accident site today.

The Gandbal boat tragedy, which claimed eight lives, including children, remains one of the deadliest incidents in Srinagar’s recent memory.