Guwahati: In a tragic incident at least 20 persons are feared drowned in the Brahmaputra river after a country boat carrying 40 passengers capsized near the Aswaklanta temple near Fancy Bazar of Guwahati.
The mishap took place around 1.30 pm when the boat popularly known as Bhutbhuti, developed a technical snag and subsequently collided with a pillar of an ongoing water supply project in the Brahmaputra.
The boat was moving towards Majbat, Madhayamkhanda in North Guwahati from Fancy Bazar ghat in the city.
The NDRF and SDRF have launched a massive search operation to rescue those missing. They however succeeded in removing at least two bodies of a youth and a girl besides rescuing at least 12 passengers who were on the boat, which capsized.
Pointing out that one of those two dead bodies is yet to be identified, police said that the girl has been identified as Ankita Barua. 17-year-old Ankita, is a student of Cotton University.
Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal has ordered a high level probe by an additional chief secretary Jishnu Baruah into the incident.
