Teesta River Tragedy: The order permits authorities to declare missing persons dead after one month if all search efforts fail to cause results
The Mangan District Administration has officially declared the nine tourists who went missing in May, after their vehicle plunged nearly 1,000 feet into the Teesta River, as deceased.
The confirmation comes months after the tragic incident in which ten people were travelling; only one survivor was found, while nine others, including the driver, remained untraceable.
Deputy Commissioner Anant Jain stated that the declaration was made under a 2023 Sikkim Government notification issued in the aftermath of the GLOF disaster. The order permits authorities to declare missing persons dead after one month if all search efforts fail to cause results.
Most of the tourists were from Odisha, including the General Secretary of the BJP Mahila Morcha. Others included travellers from Tripura and a newly married couple from Uttar Pradesh. Despite the declaration, the families of the deceased have not yet applied for the death certificates.
DC Jain further noted that the same notification was recently applied to army personnel missing after the 3 June landslide at Chhaten, triggered by relentless rainfall. Of the ten soldiers reported missing, seven bodies were recovered, while three remained unaccounted for. Following the Army’s request, death certificates for the three missing soldiers have been issued.
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