At least three people were killed and four others were missing after a boat carrying 14 passengers capsized in the Ganga River in Bihar’s Samastipur district on Thursday morning, police said.
The accident occurred at around 5.45 am, and rescue teams said that seven passengers were rescued, while searches for the missing continued until late in the evening.
“Three deaths have been confirmed so far and four people are still missing,” Brijesh Kumar Dwivedi, Mohiuddin Nagar district officer, said, adding that among the dead was a woman.
According to the district administration, the 14 passengers, all residents of Masumganj Pind Toli under Barh police station in Patna district, were crossing the Ganges to Sultanpur Diyara in Mohiuddin Nagar for agricultural work and were returning to Umanath Ghat with vegetables from Barwal fields when the accident occurred.
Patna District Magistrate SM Thiagarajan said the boat carrying 14 people capsized due to strong winds, adding that teams from Samastipur and Patna district administrations were jointly carrying out rescue operations.
“Through the joint efforts of local divers, NDRF and SDRF teams, three bodies have been recovered so far. Search and rescue operations are underway to locate and recover the bodies of the remaining four missing individuals,” Ram Krishna said. He reported that the boat was a small boat, and its engine had malfunctioned and stopped working properly, leading to it capsizing amid strong winds.
