At least 20 people, including some minors, drowned on Saturday when a boat capsized on the Ganga in Patna, suspectedly because of overloading.
Janta Ka Reporter has obtained the exclusive video (watch below), where desperate passengers can be seen jumping off the boat in a bid to reach the safety.
“So far 20 persons have been reported to be dead in the boat tragedy,” Principal Secretary, Disaster Management department Pratyay Amrit told PTI.
Amrit, DIG Shalin and Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Aggarwal are camping at the river bank, close to which the tragedy occurred, to supervise the rescue operation.
Around 40 people were said to be onboard the country boat when it capsized near NIT ghat in the evening.
The passengers were returning to Ranighat in Patna from Sabalpur diara across the river after watching a kite festival on occasion of ‘Makar Sankranti’.
A few on the ill-fated boat swam to safety, while some families said their fellow members had gone missing after the accident.
Nine persons have been admitted to Patna Medical College Hospital. The search has been called off for the night due to darkness, officials said.
Family members of the deceased and those missing were seen wailing at the ghat.
Sources said the tragedy was suspected to have been caused by overloading.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tonight condoled the loss of lives in Patna boat tragedy after which his programme scheduled for tomorrow in the Bihar capital was postponed.
“PM expressed grief on the loss of lives caused by the boat tragedy in Bihar. He extended condolences to the bereaved families,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted.
In the wake of the tragedy, a programme to mark the start of redevelopment work of Mahatma Gandhi Setu in Patna which he was to address via video conferencing was also postponed, the PMO said.
(Video by Jitendra Kumar)