PATNA: At least seven people are feared drowned after a country-made boat with 14 people on board capsized in the river near Maner's Mahavir Tola in rural Patna on Thursday.
Patna senior superintendent of police Manavjit Singh Dhillon said that seven people went missing following the boat mishap, when 14 labourers were returning to Brahmachari village under Maner police station area after collecting fodder from Saran diara area.
“The other seven on board swam back to the safety of the shore after the incident took place around 1.45pm. The police team has rushed to the spot and National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have been engaged in search and rescue operations,” Dhillon told TOI.
According to police, all the missing people are from Brahmachari village of Maner. They have been identified as Meghnath Rai (35), son of Ravindra Rai, Pawan Kumar (25), son of Ganesh Rai, Tuntun Kumar (22), son of Baban Rai, Akhilesh Kumar (40), son of Yogeshwar Kumar, Sudhir Kumar (22), son of Keshav Rai, Jhaunjhun Sav (35), son of Bhagirath Sav, and Manish Kumar (25), son of Virendra Rai.
Maner station house officer Rajeev Ranjan said rescue workers were scouring the river near Mahavir Tola ghat, where the incident took place.
However, no bodies had been recovered yet.
“Two teams of SDRF and local divers were engaged for rescue. According to locals, the daily wagers went to Sherpur village in Saran’s diara area to collect fodder. When they were returning home, their boat capsized near Mahavir Tola ghat. Seven people were feared drowned and seven swam back to the shore,” Ranjan said.
He added: “The reason behind the incident is yet to be ascertained but prima facie, it appears that the incident took place due to high water level where the incident took place. The area is quite dangerous due to swamp. The rescue operation has been stopped at night. It will start in the morning.”
