Boat ferrying 50 people capsizes in Ganga, 10 feared drowned

Preliminary investigations suggest that the boat capsized middle of the Ganga due to heavy wind and current, officials said.

PATNA: Ten people, including two minors, are feared drowned after an overloaded wooden boat with over 50 passengers on board capsized in the Ganga river near Sherpur-Chourwa temple in rural Patna at around 7.30 pm on Sunday, officials said, adding that till Monday evening no bodies have been recovered.

Crowd gather at the spot of the incident on Monday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

According to officials, gearing screams of the passengers, other boats rushed to the spot and rescued 40 of them while the rest were swept away by high water currents in the river.

The district administration with the help of the state disaster response force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) launched a search operation to trace the 10 missing persons. “We are still searching for the bodies. There is a possibility that they might have been swept away,” said an official, involved in the search operation.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the boat capsized middle of the Ganga due to heavy wind and current.

A team of professional swimmers was also engaged to trace the missing people.

“Fellow villagers managed to save the lives of people on board or it would have turned into a major tragedy,” said a police officer.