The toll in the bus accident in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district rose to 41, after five more bodies were fished out during a search operation on Tuesday.

Some of these bodies were found stuck on the waterbed and the others were floating, a senior official of the state administration said.

The search operation that was called off last night due to poor visibility resumed at 7 this morning, the official said.

“The search will continue till the time we are convinced that there are no bodies stuck anywhere,” official said.

We have so far managed to identify 35 persons. The bodies of the six unidentified persons are kept in the morgue of Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital. We have been receiving calls from relatives of passengers,” he added.

There is no confirmation on the total number of passengers travelling in the bus, but it could be around 50, said Murshidabad District Magistrate (DM) P Ulaganathan.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, along with state transport minister Suvendu Adhikari had rushed to the district on Monday to supervise rescue operations.

Banerjee, who stayed back at Baharampore last night, had announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for the family of those killed in the accident, Rs 1 lakh for the critically injured and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

Did speeding lead to bus mishap? 

The accident occurred at Balirghat under Daulatabad police station area at 6 am. As per reports, the bus moving at a high speed and lost control, when the driver tried to avoid crashing into a truck coming from the opposite direction.

The canal is connected to the Jalangi river, a tributary of the Hooghly in Daulatabad.

While two bodies were found floating, seven injured persons were fished out from the canal, the police said. The injured were admitted to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital.

The police had to resort to teargas to control the irked crowd, after locals torched a police vehicle and damaged a fire tender.

The locals were alleging delay in the arrival of the police and also complained that the bridge was in a dilapidated condition and necessary repairs were not made in time, according to media reports.