LUCKNOW: Four persons, including two children, were drowned in Yamuna river while a dozen others went missing after a boat carrying them capsized in Marka police station area of Banda district on Thursday.
Among those missing, several are feared to be children.
According to sources, as many as 40 people were riding the boat which was headed from Marka to Jarauli Ghat in Fatehpur district when it capsized.
The help of divers was taken to trace the missing, police said, adding that so far bodies of a woman and two children were recovered by a 10- member team of divers and four boatmen who were searching for the missing till last reports came in.
However, police, the SDRF team and divers saved 15 persons. Meanwhile, the identity of those who lost life in mishap was yet to be ascertained. As per the local sources, boats are the only mode of transport for people of Marka and adjoining areas to reach nearby towns.
CM Yogi Adityanath expressed grief on the loss of lives and directed the district administration to immediately reach the spot and carry out rescue and relief work in connection. CM also directed DM, DIG, NDRF and SDRF units to rush to the spot and provide proper treatment to the survivors.
Sharing details of the incident, DIG, Chitrakoot Dham Range, Vipin Mishra, who was supervising the rescue operations, said that Babu Nishad, a boatman, claimed that around 40 residents of Marka were going to Fatehpur on his boat crossing the river Yamuna.
"Around 3 pm, while crossing Yamuna one of the oars used for rowing the boat suddenly broke and Nishad lost control leading the boat to capsize," said Mishra.
The alarm was raised by some of the passengers who could swim to safety, said the police.
Meanwhile, one of the survivors attributed the mishap to the strong currents of the river when the boat reached the middle stream.
“The boat began to shake and overturned. I jumped off the boat and began swimming. I could see people struggling to stay afloat,” said Raj Karan Paswan, a resident of Fatehpur.