Darbhanga: Four people are feared drowned after a small boat carrying nine passengers capsized in the Kosi River near Kiratpur in Bihar’s Darbhanga district early on Wednesday morning.
According to officials and eyewitnesses, the passengers were travelling to agricultural fields across the river to harvest mung beans when the accident occurred near the Tarbara Spur area. Most of those feared missing are women and children.
Boat overturned in strong river current
Eyewitness Ramnarayan Yadav, a resident of Tarbara village, said people from Kuboul and Tarbara villages were crossing the Kosi River in a small boat when it lost balance in the strong current and overturned.
The accident threw all nine passengers into the river.
Local residents immediately launched a rescue effort and managed to save five people by swimming into the river. The rescued passengers were shifted to the government hospital in Kiratpur for treatment.
Search operation underway
Biroul Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Prabhakar Tiwari reached the spot and is supervising rescue and relief operations.
Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Quick Response Team have been deployed to search for the missing persons. Authorities said search operations were continuing till the filing of this report.
The incident triggered panic among residents of nearby villages, with large crowds gathering along the riverbank.
Another boat accident reported in Saharsa
The Darbhanga incident comes barely a day after a similar boat accident in Saharsa district.
On Tuesday morning, a small boat carrying around 20 women and children overturned in a tributary of the Kosi River near Chikni village under Saraigarh Panchayat. The passengers were reportedly travelling to collect mung beans and cut grass inside the embankment area.
According to villagers, the boat became unstable and overturned while passengers were attempting to disembark near the riverbank.
Several people fell into deep water, but divers, local residents and NDRF personnel successfully rescued all passengers.
Five persons hospitalised
Five passengers who were pulled out from deeper sections of the river were admitted to the Community Health Centre (CHC) at Bhaptiyahi after their condition deteriorated.
The injured were identified as America Devi (45), Savita Devi (50), Juhi Parveen (10), Bibi Sakina (35) and Bibi Noorjahan (45).
After receiving initial treatment from Dr Shahnawaz Alam, they were referred to Sadar Hospital, Supaul, for further medical care.
District Magistrate Sawan Kumar and Superintendent of Police Sharath R.S. visited the accident site and reviewed the rescue operation.
Circle Officer Dheeraj Kumar said all passengers involved in the Saharsa incident were rescued safely.
