At least three people died and four others went missing after a boat carrying 14 passengers capsized in the Ganga river near Sultanpur Diara in Mohiuddin Nagar block of Bihar’s Samastipur district on Thursday morning, officials said.
According to officials engaged in the rescue operation, seven people were rescued safely, while search operations were continuing till the filing of this report.
All the passengers were residents of Masoomganj Bind Toli under Barh police station area in Patna district. They had crossed the river to Sultanpur Diara in Mohiuddinnagar area of Samastipur district for agricultural work and were returning to Umanath Ghat with vegetables loaded from parwal (Pointed gourd) fields when the accident occurred.
“Three deaths have been confirmed so far and four persons are still missing,” Mohiuddinnagar circle officer Brijesh Kumar Dwivedi said, adding that the deceased included two men and one woman. The identities of the victims have been established.
In an earlier update issued in the morning, the Patna district administration said the incident took place around 5:45 am when 14 people from Bind Toli boarded the boat for Sultanpur Diara, where they regularly travelled for harvesting parwal and other farming activities. The administration had then confirmed that seven people were rescued, two bodies had been recovered and five persons were missing.
{{/usCountry}}In an earlier update issued in the morning, the Patna district administration said the incident took place around 5:45 am when 14 people from Bind Toli boarded the boat for Sultanpur Diara, where they regularly travelled for harvesting parwal and other farming activities. The administration had then confirmed that seven people were rescued, two bodies had been recovered and five persons were missing.
{{/usCountry}}The administration stated that strong winds caused the boat to overturn near Sultanpur Diara in Samastipur district. Rescue operations were being carried out jointly by the district administrations of Patna and Samastipur.
Sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Barh, Garima Lohiya, said the mishap occurred after the boat’s engine failed midstream. “Two bodies had initially been recovered,” she said.
Officials from the disaster management department, led by the Barh SDO and deputy superintendent of police, were present at the site overseeing the rescue efforts.
As news of the tragedy spread, thousands of local residents and family members of the victims gathered at Umanath Ghat. Local police and civil administration officials were engaged in identifying the recovered bodies and completing legal formalities.