Hajipur:
Rescue operations continued on Wednesday to trace missing passengers after a boat capsized in the Ganga river in Bihar’s Vaishali district, killing at least 13 children, officials said.
Vaishali District Magistrate Varsha Singh said the death toll remained at 13, with no fresh recoveries reported so far. Six people had been rescued, and search and relief operations were continuing.
The incident occurred around 8.30 pm on Tuesday when residents of Rampur Shyamchand village were travelling across the river to attend a feast in another village. The boat was carrying more than 20 passengers when it capsized, officials said. All the deceased were below 15 years of age.
The damaged boat has since been retrieved, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) Sub-Inspector Jai Deep Narayan Singh told reporters.
Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh to the family of each deceased person.
Several political leaders, including former BJP MLA Satish Kumar Yadav and LJP (Ram Vilas) MLC Ashraf Ansari, visited the accident site and expressed condolences to the bereaved families.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who represents the Raghopur Assembly constituency, said on X that he had spoken to the district administration and received an update on the situation. He said he would visit the site after returning from New Delhi, where he had gone to participate in protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
Meanwhile, local residents staged a protest, alleging administrative negligence and demanding that an FIR be registered against the officials concerned.