Hajipur, October 14: Rescue operations continued on Wednesday to trace people missing after a boat capsized in the Ganga river in Bihar’s Vaishali district, killing at least 13 children, officials said.
Vaishali District Magistrate Varsha Singh said the death toll remained at 13, with no fresh recovery of bodies reported so far. All the deceased children were below 15 years of age.
The incident occurred around 8:30 pm on Tuesday when residents of Rampur Shyamchand village were travelling across the river to attend a feast in another village. The boat was reportedly carrying more than 20 passengers when it capsized.
Singh said six people had been rescued so far, adding that rescue and relief operations were continuing to locate anyone still missing.
The damaged boat has been retrieved from the river, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) Sub-Inspector Jai Deep Narayan Singh said.
Following the tragedy, Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased victim.
Several political leaders, including former BJP MLA Satish Kumar Yadav and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) MLC Ashraf Ansari, visited the site and expressed condolences to the bereaved families.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, who represents the Raghopur Assembly constituency, said he had spoken to the district administration and received an update on the situation. He added that he would visit the site after returning from New Delhi, where he had gone to participate in protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
Meanwhile, residents staged a protest in the village, alleging administrative negligence and demanding that an FIR be registered against the officials concerned.
Rescue teams remain engaged in the search operation as authorities continue efforts to account for all those who were aboard the ill-fated boat.
