M A I N   N E W S

9 feared dead as boat capsizes in Beas
Deepkamal Kaur/TNS

Kabirpur (Sultanpur Lodhi), Oct 3
At least nine persons were feared drowned after a boat capsized in the Beas in Munda village of Tarn Taran district on Thursday.

Tragedy struck soon after the boat carrying 16 boys and an elderly man to a religious fair at Dalla village of Sultanpur Lodhi across the Beas gave way. While seven boys and the boat operator managed to swim to safety, nine of them were feared drowned.

Villagers pull out the ill-fated boat on the banks of the Beas at Kabirpur village on Thursday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

“It happened in a fraction of a second. We stood there helpless and could do nothing. Some boys on the boat managed to swim in our direction. We opened our turbans and flung one end towards them and pulled them out one by one,” said Ajaib Singh, an eyewitness and a resident of Munda village. The villagers had been sitting on the river bank waiting for the return of the boat that had already made two rounds since morning when the mishap took place.

A look at the ill-fated boat after it was brought out of the water said it all — the wooden planks were badly worn out and some were missing.

Those feared dead are Jugraj Singh (23), Kanwaljit Singh (20), Hardev Singh (18), Harpreet Singh (22), Wassan Singh (23), Hardev Singh (26), Jasbir Singh (13), Happy (15) and Bachan Singh (75).

The eight survivors have been identified as Jagroop Singh, Daljit Singh, Hardev Singh, Vajinder Singh, Gurjant Singh, Navdeep Singh, Rajbir Singh and boat operator Gurbhej Singh.

Vajinder Singh, a youth who survived the capsize, said water had began accumulating in the boat as soon as they set off. “We had been constantly throwing out water from the boat using mugs. All of a sudden, two three planks on the base gave way and water came gushing in. The boat lost balance and all of us fell into the river.”

Though the accident occurred around 9 am, it took around four hours to start rescue operations as the 5-km muddy trail leading to the mishap site was slippery due to heavy rainfall. Later, teams from the Harike wetland and PAP reached the site with boats and barbed wires and were seen trying to fish out bodies.

Tragedy in Tarn Taran 

* 9 am: Boat overturns in Beas in Munda village, Tarn Taran

‘Water came gushing in…’

Water began accumulating in the boat as soon as we set off. We were constantly throwing out water using mugs. All of a sudden, two three planks on the base gave way and water came gushing in. The boat lost balance and we fell into the river. — Vajinder Singh, a survivor