The death toll in the boat capsize incident in the Yamuna river near Mathura has risen to 15 after two additional bodies were recovered on Monday, officials said. Superintendent of Police (Rural) Suresh Chandra Rawat reported that during the search operation, the body of a woman named Monika was found in the Bangali Ghat area of Mathura. Another victim was recovered near Devaraha Baba Ghat in Vrindavan and identified as 22-year-old Yash, also known as Yuvraj Bhalla.

Authorities shared that just minutes before the accident on Friday, Bhalla was seen in a video playing a dhol while devotees sang hymns. His father told police that Yash was a student who occasionally played dholak for a bhajan group linked to the Shri Banke Bihari Club in Jagraon, Ludhiana, and had joined the pilgrimage with them for the same purpose.

Rawat added that one person, Pankaj Malhotra (40), remains missing. He confirmed that all other missing individuals have been recovered so far, and search operations for Malhotra are still underway. Malhotra, a resident of Jagraon, worked as a manager at a steel company in Himachal Pradesh and was also on board the boat.

Rescue teams, including eight units of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), two teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and six PAC diving teams, are continuing the search efforts. The accident occurred on Friday afternoon when a boat carrying more than 30 tourists, mostly from Punjab, struck a floating drum of a pontoon bridge and capsized near Kesi Ghat in Vrindavan. Many of the victims were from the Jagraon and Dugri areas of Ludhiana district.