Muzaffarpur boat mishap: Three bodies fished out, say officials

Of the 30, 18 people were rescued till Thursday by the NDRF and the State Disaster Response Team (SDRF), while the rescuers are still searching for nine more after the recovery of three bodies

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Friday fished out three bodies from the Bagmati river near Madhurpatti ghat in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, officials familiar with the matter said.

A boat carrying 30 people, including 15 school children, capsized in Bihar’s Bagmati river on Thursday morning (File Photo)

A boat carrying 30 people, including 15 school children, capsized in the river on Thursday morning and all 30 fell into the river.

Of the 30, 18 people were rescued till Thursday by the NDRF and the State Disaster Response Team (SDRF), while the rescuers are still searching for nine more after the recovery of three bodies, said officials.

According to NDRF officials, the three bodies were fished out at a distance of 1-5 kilometres from each other. The deceased were identified as Azmat (4), Pintu Rana (22) and Mohammad Shamshul (40).

NDRF officials said that the search operation started on Friday morning and continued till evening, adding it will resume again on Saturday morning.

“Searches are underway to trace the remaining missing persons. District administration officials are going door-to-door in the neighbourhoods near the ghat to check if any children are missing,” said Muzaffarpur district magistrate Pranav Kumar.

He added that a team of doctors is also camping near the ghat, and a facility for conducting post-mortem examinations has been set up there.

The DM further announced an ex-gratia of Rs.4 lakh and Rs.20,000 under other financial schemes, to next of the kin of each victim from Gayghat block.

On Friday, a video of the incident surfaced online. In the video, loud cries for help can be heard. Some of them were seen jumping from the boat.

The tragedy incidentally struck on a day when chief minister Nitish Kumar was in Muzaffarpur to review the progress of ongoing projects in the district.

According to the eyewitnesses, the mishap took place around 9.45am when some women and school children from Bhatgama village were crossing the river on the countrymade boat. Most of the school children, aged between 15 and 16 years, were on their way to attend their classes at Balaur upgraded high school across the river.