The mother and brother of Indian student Gampala Aishwarya, who drowned after water was released from a dam in northern Himachal Pradesh state, mourn as they observe last rites at their residence in Hyderabad. Rescuers discovered five bodies June 9 in a river in northern India as they stepped up their search for 24 students washed away in a sudden surge of water released from a dam. AFP

IANS/Mandi/Hyderabad

Rescuers Tuesday scoured the Beas river in Mandi, where a wall of water washed away a group of engineering college students two days ago, leaving at least five dead and 19 missing.

Rescue workers Tuesday carried out a search operation on the second day to locate 19 students of the engineering college in Hyderabad and a tour operator who went missing after the strong current of the Beas river washed them away near Mandi town.

Aisa Hussain, whose son was swept away in the river, said: "I want my child back. No stone should be left unturned."

"He should be traced at all costs. If he's not alive, I want the body of my son back," she told IANS.

She is among the parents of the 19 missing students camping in Mandi town and desperately waiting to hear about their sons and daughters.

"I fail to understand how my son, who was a very good swimmer, was swept away," said B.V. Suba Rao, whose son is also on the list of missing persons.

He said most of the children who were drowned due to the negligence of the dam officials were brilliant students.

The students who survived the tragedy returned to Hyderabad late Monday and some of them recounted the horror they went through. They said they were clicking pictures on the river bank when water from the hydropower project dam was released without warning.

The bodies of four victims, which were brought to Hyderabad by a defence aircraft in the early hours of Tuesday and handed over to their relatives, were cremated.

Heart rending scenes were witnessed as the parents of the victims arrived at Begumpet airport. A large number of relatives and friends of the victims gathered to receive the bodies that the aircraft brought from Delhi.

The last rites of B. Rambabu were performed in his village in Nalgonda district, while A. Vijetha, G. Aishwarya and Lakshmi Gayathri were cremated in Hyderabad.