LUCKNOW: Five bodies are recovered while the body of the child is still missing as search operations are going on after a boat carrying around nine passengers capsized in River Yamuna in Kutubpur Patiya hamlet on Wednesday evening.
As per the police sources, the boat was ferrying the villagers who were returning after collecting muskmelons and cucumbers from a river island.
The boat which overturned in Yamuna had nine people on board.
The boatman had managed to save three persons, but six others, one woman and five children, drowned. According to officials, a group of villagers had crossed the Yamuna river in a small boat to reach an island located in the middle of the river to pluck melons and cucumbers.
While returning at around 6 pm, the overloaded boat, carrying 10 persons including the boatman, reportedly overturned in deep waters in the midstream, throwing all passengers into the river.
The boatman, identified as Dheeru, managed to rescue three persons — Vishnu, Rinku and Parul — from drowning.
A massive rescue operation involving NDRF and Flood PAC teams with around 100 personnel is still on at the site of the mishap.
Officials said the river’s depth was making diving difficult, so boats were being moved in circular motion in hopes that water pressure may bring bodies to the surface. A net-based search operation is also on.
Relatives of the victims are sitting at the riverbank, with one grieving mother pleading with officials to bring back her child. The accident occurred around 6 pm on Wednesday, and rescue operations had to be halted at night due to rain and strong winds.
Operations resumed at 6 am on Thursday with multiple boats deployed.
The bodies recovered on Thursday were those of Brijrani (25), and five children including Archana (14), Rani (9), Lavyansh (5), and Aakanksha (9).
Eleven-year-old Aditya is still missing.
As per the senior officials overseeing the rescue operations, NDRF and SDRF teams are conducting a 5-km search operation using boats. Divers are not entering the water due to the extreme depth.
Authorities are also preparing to deploy nets in the river to prevent bodies from drifting further downstream and to aid recovery efforts.
Hamirpur District Magistrate Abhishek Goyal and Superintendent of Police Mrigank Shekhar Pathak have been staying put on site and overseeing the rescue operations.
Taking the cognizance of the incident, CM Yogi Adityanath, on Wednesday evening, directed the senior police and administrative officials to carry out relief and rescue operations on a war footing.
The CM instructed officials to ensure that the missing persons were traced at the earliest and warned that any negligence in the rescue operation would not be tolerated.
He also directed senior district officials to personally monitor the ongoing rescue efforts and ensure all possible assistance was provided to the affected families.