- By Imran Zafar
- Sun, 19 Jan 2025 02:12 PM (IST)
- Source:PTI
Bihar: Three people were killed and four others remain missing after a boat carrying 17 passengers capsized in Bihar’s Katihar district on Sunday. The incident occurred around 7 am in Ganga river near Golaghat area when the overcrowded boat lost balance and overturned.
Ten people have been rescued, with most managing to swim to the riverbank, officials said. Rescue operations recovered three bodies, while efforts are underway to locate the four missing passengers, with search teams looking for survivors.
"The rescue operation is ongoing to locate the four missing individuals. An investigation has been initiated to determine the cause of the incident," stated District Magistrate Manesh Kumar Meena as quoted by news agency PTI.
Two of the deceased have been identified as Pawan Kumar (60) and Sudhir Mandal (70), while the third victim remains unidentified, officials added.
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In the Diara region of Katihar, where farmland lies across the river, boats serve as the primary mode of transportation. Residents use these boats to commute to the fields for work. However, the limited number of boats often leads to overcrowding, with more passengers boarding than the boat’s capacity, frequently resulting in accidents.
While locals sometimes manage to rescue one another during such incidents, there are occasions when lives are tragically lost. A similar accident occurred last November on the Manihari stretch of the Ganga River in Katihar, when an overcrowded boat capsized, leaving two people missing.