Bihar: 12 drown as boats capsize in Khagaria and Saharsa districts

PATNA/KHAGARIA: At least 12 persons, including a three-year-old male child, drowned and four others were missing as two boats capsized in Khagaria and Saharsa districts on Tuesday evening.
While the body of the Saharsa child was fished out on Tuesday night, the other 11, including nine were in Khagaria, were found on Wednesday.
Police said both the boats capsized due to strong winds following storm.Most of the people on the two boats were returning after celebrating rakhi.
The respective district administration handed over cheques for Rs4 lakh as ex gratia payment to the next of kin of each of the deceased.
In Khagaria, the motorized boat was going from Ghat number 5 at Ekaniya under Mansi police station to Teekarampur under Mufassil police station area in Munger district.
Mansi police station SHO Deepak Kumar said the deceased were identified as Rekha Devi (30), Shivani Kumari (14), Sushant Kumar (18), Dulari Devi (24), Rupam Devi (35), Ankush Kumar (13), Viveka Devi (52), Abhimanyu Raj (14) and Neeraj Thakur (30).
He said the boat lost balance in the middle of the swollen Ganga due to strong winds at around 6pm. Ten people managed to swim to safety. Two persons were still missing, he said.
“The boat capsized near Bheemtola under Mufassil police station,” he said.
He said the deceased were mostly from Ekania, Englishtola and neighbouring areas in Khagaria.
In Saharsa, a countrymade boat capsized in a seasonal rivulet at Sahuria village under Chiraiyya police outpost of Salkhua police station area at around 5.30pm on Tuesday.
Chiraiyya outpost incharge Birendra Sah said the child was identified as Prem. “Two more bodies were fished out on Wednesday morning. One was Prem’s father Sanjeet Kumar Chaudhary (40) and the other was a girl Shobha Kumari (15),” he said.
Sah said search was on to find Sanjeet’s wife Rajni Devi (36) and a four-month-old male infant named Shivam. His mother managed to survive.
Sah said nine people swam to safety. “The boat was going to Sauri Tola from Chiraiyya when it capsized in the strong winds as the rivulet has only seven to eight feet deep water,” he said.