Six people, including children, went missing and three were rescued after a boat capsized in the Yamuna river in Uttar Pradesh’s Hamirpur district, police said on Thursday.
They said that the incident occurred on Wednesday evening in Kutubpur Patia village under Baoli Gram panchayat in Kurara police station area, when nine people, not including the boatman, were returning from a river island.
According to police, the boat lost its balance in the middle of the river and capsized at around 7 p.m.
The navigator Dhiru managed to save three people – Vishnu, Rinku and Parul. The remaining six – Akanksha (9), Rani (9), Brigrani (25), Labyansh (5), Mahesh (6) and Aditya (11) – are missing, police said.
District Magistrate Abhishek Goyal said that the search for the missing persons was being conducted by teams from the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force.
Considering the incident, Chief Minister Adityanath directed the district administration to investigate the cause of the incident and put in place effective measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
He instructed senior police officials and administrative officials to immediately reach the scene and ensure relief and rescue operations in case of war, an official statement said.
He added that Adityanath called for intensifying rescue efforts to trace the missing persons as soon as possible, and warned that any negligence in this matter will not be tolerated.
The Prime Minister also instructed senior district officials to personally monitor rescue operations and ensure all possible assistance is provided to the affected families.
BJP MLA from Hamirpur Manoj Prajapati said attempts are being made to trace the missing people. “We will ensure that the affected families are compensated as per the rules and will submit a report to the Prime Minister about the incident,” he added.
