Bihar: 2 dead in Maner after boat capsizes in Ganga river, search on to retrieve bodies

Maner: At least 2 people have reportedly drowned after a boat capsized in the Ganga river in Bihar’s Maner. The place falls under the Patna district. The accident took place early Sunday morning, said police officials.

Boat had 12 onboard: Eyewitnesses

The police said that the accident took place near Mahavir Tola, when the boat carrying at least 12 people overturned. Reports said that all those on the boat were farmers, who were carrying their vegetables from the Diyara area to Mahavir Tola.

The head of the Police Station of Maner, Sunil Kumar Bhagat said that the accident took place at around 7-8 am on Sunday. He added that most farmers managed to swim to the shore, but 2 people apparently drowned in the river. He said that a search operation has been launched to trace those missing.

#WATCH | Sunil Kumar Bhagat, Police Station Head, Maner says, ” In the morning around 7-8 am, a few farmers were taking their vegetables in a boat, and as they were about to reach the Mahavir Tola ghat, the boat capsized. Except for 2 people, rest of them swam and came to… https://t.co/jOkVadPmy3 pic.twitter.com/6cPUbQj11M

— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2024

A team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) has reached the accident spot and have launched a hunt for the missing persons. They are mostly searching the river around the Mahavir Tola village. It is presumed that the 2 individuals have died.

Past boat tragedies in Bihar

In September last year a boat capsized in the Bagmati river in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. There were 30 children onboard the boat at the time it capsized, said reports. At least 4 children had reportedly died in the incident. The administration had managed to rescue 20 people within hours of the incident. Apart from this in another boat accident which took place in November 2023, 2 people had died and 18 went missing. The accident happened in River Saryu.