NEW DELHI, Sept 14: At least 12 people, including six children, have gone missing after a boat capsized on Thursday in river Bagmati in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar. The missing children were said to be crossing river on boat to attend their school located on the other side of the river. Rescue operation was launched and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the government would provide all adequate assistance to the affected families in the incident.
The boat was said to be carrying over 30 people, including several school going children, overturned mid-stream in river Bagmati at Madhupur Patti ghat. Soon after the incident, separate teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) launched rescue operation in the river.
“Nearly 20 people have been rescued yet and some more are said to be missing. Our rescue operation is currently going on,” said NDRF official Randhir Singh. “The NDRF and SDRF teams are engaged in rescue operations and it will continue. Senior district administration officials are camping at the incident site,” said Muzaffarpur District Magistrate Pranav Kumar.
Nitish Kumar while speaking to media persons, said senior district officials have been “directed to reach the spot and the state government will provide all adequate assistance to the affected families”. “Rescue operation is on at the incident site,” said Mr Kumar.
(Manas Dasgupta)
