india

Updated: Oct 03, 2019 22:43 IST

At least three people died and more than eight went missing after a motorised country boat capsized in the overflowing Mahananda river in Bengal’s Malda district shortly before sundown on Thursday. The river is in spate because of heavy rains in the region.

The boat capsized near the Jagannathpur jetty. It was ferrying passengers from Mukundapur jetty on the opposite bank.

Sajal Kanti Biswas, sub-divisional police officer of Chanchal, said, “Three bodies have been recovered till 10:15 pm. We are not sure how many people were travelling in the boat. Apparently the boat was one of those that took part in the race during the day at Mukundapur jetty which is part of North Dinajpur district.”

He added that the rising water level and strong current at night is making the search operation very difficult. “We have deployed a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) unit that is stationed in the district,” said Biswas.

Till 10 pm, 15 passengers of the capsized boat were rescued and taken to a local hospital. The passengers and local people alleged before the police that the boat was overloaded. They claimed that it was carrying around 80 passengers and several motorcycles.

Many among the passengers were coming to take part in Durga Puja at Chanchal which begins on Friday. A boat race was also organised at the spot on Thursday as part of the celebrations.