40 feared drowned in Assam

GUWAHATI, Oct 27 (PTI) — At least 40 persons, mostly children, were feared drowned when an over- crowded mechanised country boat capsized after colliding with another mid-stream in the Brahmaputra river today, the police said.

Top district civil and police officials at the site of the accident said the boat was said to have been carrying some 50 passengers when it collided with a private mechanised boat.

The exact number of casualties could not be ascertained yet as there was no record of the number of people in the boat when the mishap occurred.

The overcrowded boat was carrying passengers on a ride after the Chhat Puja festival at around 7 am near the Sukleswar ghat when it collided with the other boat.

It immediately developed a leak and sank within two minutes, engine side first. Ten of the passengers of the sinking boat jumped on to the other boat to safety.

The Assam river police and the Army were assisting the district administration in the search for the missing passengers, the officials said adding that all police stations adjacent to the city and downstream areas had been alerted to look for bodies.

The administration had also requisitioned the assistance of special Army divers to be airlifted from Jorhat to search for the sunken boat and the missing people.

The government inland water transport had pressed its boats into service.

Municipal Administration Minister Biraj Kumar Sarma was supervising the rescue operations.

A visiting correspondent found family members of the victims wailing for their lost ones and hoping against hope that they would be miraculously alive.

Prakash Jha, who lost 12 of his family members, was in a state of shock, while Durga Mai was beating her chest and crying aloud for her three little nieces and their mother.

Sanjay Ram, one of the 10 survivors, told reporters that about 50 Chhat Puja revellers decided for a joy ride unknowing of the nightmare to follow.

The ticket collector was collecting Rs 5 each from the passengers at the time of the impact, he said.

Sanjay said the other vessel hit the boat causing it to spring a leak and the boat sank within two minutes before any help could reach the victims.

"I jumped on to the other boat and when I turned back to see if there were survivors, I found my boat had disappeared and saw five persons being taken downstream by the swift river current", he added.