Rahul Gandhi visits boat tragedy site in Odisha

SAMBALPUR (ODISHA): Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today visited the site of the boat capsize incident in Hirakud reservoir which claimed 24 lives and conducted an aerial survey of the area.

He spent some time at Jamadarpali Ghat on the bank of Mahanadi river near Hirakud reservoir and met some families who have lost their relatives in the tragedy.

Gandhi, who is currently on a two-day visit to the state, was accompanied by PCC president Jaydev Jena and AICC general secretary B K Hariprasad.

The Congress leader also held discussion with the Sambalpur district collector Balwant Singh and other senior officials. He enquired about the rescue and search operation being carried out to locate the missing people.

After his return from Sambalpur, Gandhi is scheduled to attend the meeting of PCC leaders in the evening.

Two senior ministers of the Naveen Patnaik cabinet -- Prasanna Acharya and Surya Narayan Patro, also reached the tragedy site and supervised the ongoing search and rescue operation.