A four-year-old boy died and two others went missing after a a single-engine boat carrying 15 people onboard capsized in the Brahmaputra river in Western Assam’s South Salmara-Mankachar district during a storm.
Informing that Disaster management authorities in the district were alerted about the boat accident on Sunday, security sources said that the small boat, which carried 15 people, including the boatman, was ferrying passengers from Kokradanga to Nepurer Alga. The area, close to the Indo-Bangladesh border, comprises several riverine islands, and small boats are the primary mode of transport from one point to another.
It is significant that the state government had banned single-engine boats in Brahmaputra following a similar incident two years ago.
Security sources said, “Soon after the incident, a search operation was launched by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and 15 of the 18 passengers were rescued.”
The body of the child, identified as Shamim Hussain, was found early Monday. The two missing individuals have been identified as Kovad Hussain (65) and Ismail Hussain (8), according to the SDRF.
Officials said that the search operation is still on and local fishermen are also supporting the SDRF teams.
The SDRF authorities are also sending drones with pilots for surveillance during the operation. Security sources said that there were 15 passengers in the boat, and the rest of them swam to safety with the help of locals.
The Disaster Management authorities said that a number of lightning incidents have taken place in several districts, but no report of any casualty has been received so far as large parts of Assam experienced heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, and hailstorms on Sunday.
