Six school girls among 12 missing as boat capsizes in Muzaffarpur

The boat was carrying over 30 people, many of whom were students headed for their school across the Bagmati river, of which 18 were rescued by locals.

At least 12 people, among them six school girls, were still missing after the countrymade boat they were sailing on across the swollen Bagmati river in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district capsized Thursday morning near Madhurpatti ghat, barely 1.5 kilometres away from the bridge on the river, locals and officials said.

At the accident site on Bagmati river. (HT photo)

According to an official, the boat was carrying over 30 people, many of whom were students headed for their school across the river, of which 18 were rescued by locals.

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.

“Rescue operation is underway… I have asked the district magistrate to look into the matter with urgency. The state government will provide all assistance to the affected families,” Kumar told reporters in Muzaffarpur.

District magistrate (DM) Pranav Kumar said, “We have also deployed divers from neighbouring districts. Personnel of the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force have been engaged in the rescue operation as well.”

Jairam Kumar, an eyewitness, said 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 way to attend their classes at Balaur upgraded high school across the river.

Another local, Ram Babu Ray, told HT that NDRF and SDRF teams arrived at the spot after three hours of the incident.

The DM, however, said the incident took place around 10.30-11am. “Teams of NDRF and SDRF were rushed to the accident site soon after,” he said.

NDRF deputy commandant (operations) of 9th battalion, Randhir Singh, said that around 11am, the NDRF control room received a message about the accident. “A team comprising 20 divers rushed to the spot and started search operations, but they could not find the bodies till sunset. The search will continue on Friday,” he said.

Deputy superintendent of police (Muzaffarpur East) Shahriyar Akhtar said the countrymade boat was overloaded and was crossing the river with the help of a rope which snapped, overturning the boat.

One of the rescued students, Nikhat Praveen, told reporters that she could not remember how she was rescued but admitted several of her friends were missing.

Meanwhile, state BJP president Samrat Choudhary blamed CM Nitish Kumar for the poor state of schools and lack of proper infrastructure despite being in power for 18 years. “Children are unable to go to school even if they want to,” he told reporters in Patna.