1 dead, 7 missing after boat capsizes in Bihar’s Gandak River

Police said the incident took place around 9am when several villagers were on their way to Hirapakad on a small boat.

A woman died and seven people went missing after a country-made boat carrying 12 capsized in the Gandak River in Bihar’s Gopalganj district on Saturday, police said.

A country-made boat carrying 12 capsized in Bihar’s Gandak River, killing 1

Police said the incident took place around 9am when several villagers were on their way to Hirapakad on a small boat.

Till the time of reporting, seven people were missing, while four—Pintu Prasad, Prabhunath Prasad, Bimlawati Devi and Sunil Kumar—managed to swim to safety.

Gopalganj’s district magistrate (DM) Arshad Aziz confirmed the death of a woman, identified as Usha Devi, a resident of Kotwa village under Yadopur police station of the district.

“In the riverine area, some people have their cultivable land on the other side of the river. The villagers take the river route every day to bring fodder,” Aziz said.

Yadopur Police personnel, swimmers and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team were involved in the rescue operations. They were looking for the missing till late in the evening.

Though the exact reason behind the accident is yet to be ascertained, initial reports suggest that overloading and poor condition of the boat could have lead to its overturning.

The missing have been identified as Harilal Kumar, Anjli Kumari, Ajit Kumar, Rohit Kumar, Nirmala Devi, Rajkali Devi and Sachin Kumar.

Raghunath Prasad, one of the survivors, said he tried to pull out his son, Harilal, and his sister-in-law, Rajkali, from the river but others who were drowning caught hold of them to save themselves.

Pintu Prasad also failed to save his relatives Anjali and Ajit.