Badal mourns capsized boat tragedy near Panama

CHANDIGARH : Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today expressed profound grief and sorrow over the tragic incident of capsized boat carrying nearly 20 youths from Punjab to United States near Panama, in which all the U.S. bound youths from state are feared to be drowned.
Sharing heartfelt condolences with the members of bereaved families back home in Punjab, Badal said that the state government was at the beck and call of these distressed families in this hour of crisis. He said, “I am deeply anguished to learn about this ill-fated boat tragedy, which claimed the lives of our sons of soil and pray to Almighty for giving courage and solace to the bereaved families to bear this inconsolable loss.” According to a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office,Badal has asked the State Chief Secretary to provide the latest information with regard to this tragic incident to their family members or relations. On the directions of Mr. Badal, the Chief Secretary has already set up a 24X7 Control Room here at Punjab Civil Secretariat, Chandigarh with landline nos. 0172-2740397, 2740859 and fax no.2740936 to keep the families of victims updated about the latest information available with them. Any member or relative of the victims of this unfortunate boat tragedy could seek information from the concerned official on duty round the clock by contacting him on the above mentioned telephone numbers in the Control Room.The Chief Minister also said that he was in constant touch with the Ministry of External Affairs, GoI and also directed the Chief Secretary to keep a close tab over the situation through maintaining liaison with the top brass of the Ministry of External Affairs so as to keep him updated on this count from time to time.