GUWAHATI: Three persons, including two schoolchildren, were reported missing after their boat partially sank in a tributary of the Brahmaputra in Assam’s Nalbari district on Thursday morning.
The mishap occurred when the motorised boat, reportedly carrying over 100 passengers, mostly schoolchildren, was en route to Larkuchi from the Peradhara ferry ghat.
The three reported missing are Abdul Gafur (50), Class 3 student Aryan Ali, and Class 9 student Majidul Islam. Gafur went missing while trying to rescue the boat passengers.
Nalbari District Commissioner Nibedan Das Patowary told this newspaper that six divers from the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force were engaged in the search and rescue operation.
“The children were going to their school when the roof of the boat collapsed. It damaged the boat and led to the mishap. Three persons were reported missing. Others saved their lives by swimming ashore,” Patowary said.
“The Inland Water Transport (IWT) has lodged an FIR against the lessee. The lessee should have ensured that the boat had a marine engine,” he further stated.
The IWT had earlier issued a directive that all motorised boats must be equipped with a marine engine.
Officials from the Nalbari district administration were overseeing the search and rescue operations on the ground. Authorities in the adjoining Barpeta district were also alerted about the incident.