NDRF rescues 112 people stranded on boat in Gandak river in UP

People were stuck in mainstream of Gandak river in Barwapatti area of Kushinagar district. Engine of the motorboat they were onboard developed some technical snag on Thursday evening.

Around 112 people, stranded in the middle of the Gandak river on a boat in Kushinagar on Thursday night, were successfully rescued by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in an overnight operation, said officials.

NDRF team rescuing people stuck in mid of Gandak river near Barwapatti Ghat in Amavakhas area of Kushi Nagar district. (sourced)

Of the people rescued, 62 were men, 31 women and 19 children, who were stuck in mainstream of Gandak in Barwapatti area of Kushinagar district as engine of the motorboat they were onboard developed some technical snag on Thursday evening.

The incident took place when the locals were coming back in a boat from across the river after working in their fields, said NDRF officials.

According to locals, when the boat reached the mid-stream, boat’s engine turned off due to some technical snag and the boat started drifting with current of water and after some distance it got stuck.

The district administration initiated the efforts to rescue people with available resources.

District magistrate Kushinagar, S Rajlingam informed NDRF control room, Varanasi in the night.

The team reached the Barawapatti Ghat at 2.30am and rescued all 112 people stuck in mainstream of the river in the operation that ended around 8.30am.

The team also rescued 4 goats, Sharma said.