Two die in protest over Kashmir boat tragedy

Kashmiri school children attend the funeral of nine of the 22 schoolchildren yesterday who died when an Indian navy boat carrying them capsized the day before on the Wular Lake in Handwara, 70km north of Srinagar. PHOTO: AFP

According to one witness, Ghulam Nabi, soldiers opened fire when villagers attacked an army patrol with sticks near Watlab army camp on the shores of Wular Lake, about 70km north of the Indian Kashmir summer capital Srinagar.

The incident, in which two people were also injured, came after divers had pulled another five bodies from the lake where an Indian navy boat giving school children a ride had capsized Tuesday.

The bodies of 15 children and two school staff were recovered Tuesday from Wular, one of the Asia's biggest fresh water lakes.

Locals, angry that the navy had taken the children -- aged between seven and 14 -- in a high speed boat, alleged two sailors in charge of the vessel had jumped out before it sank.