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Two more bodies recovered, toll touches 17

Police sources said the toll was unlikely to go up beyond 17 as everybody had been accounted for.

The bodies of a 30-year-old man and an eight-month-old baby were the last to be fished out of the lake, into which the bus chartered from the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation had fallen on Wednesday afternoon after colliding with a truck.

Fifteen bodies had been recovered on Wednesday.

Dharmapuri District Collector K Balachandran said that the bodies were those of eight women, three children and six men. Thirty-eight survivors were sent to Tumkur in Karnataka from where they hailed.

Huge cranes managed to lift the ill-fated bus out of the lake late on Wednesday night, they said.

Chief Minister M Karunanidhi announced a solatium of Rs 20,000 to each of the families of 17 victims.

Balachandran said gold ornaments and other valuables of the bridegroom's party were retrieved and handed over to them.

He said 10 members of the public, besides fire service and transport department personnel who rescued the survivors would be presented with awards for meritorious service during the Republic Day celebrations.

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