Five people died after a boat capsized in the Kamla river in Bihar's Darbhanga district on Wednesday. The boat was carrying 13 people, including women and children, when it capsized due to overloading. The incident took place in the Gadhpura village in Tilkeshwar police station area, said officials as quoted by news agency PTI.
"Thirteen people were on the boat when it capsized. While eight people managed to swim to the bank, five persons drowned," said District Magistrate Rajeev Roshan said.
As soon as the information about the incident was received, the Block Development Officer of Kusheshwar Sthan East Block, Circle Officer along with the SDO of Biraul sub-division reached the spot, talked to the victim's family and assured all possible help.
The deceased have been identified as Jagtaran Devi (50), Phulpari Devi (45), Laxmi Kumari (12), Sonali Kumari (13) and Sonia Kumari (14).
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar condoled the deaths, and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh for the families of the deceased.
When local people heard about the incident, they rushed to the scene with boats to rescue the victims. However, by the time they arrived, the five people had already drowned.
The Block Development Officer of Kusheshwar Sthan East Block, Kishore Kumar, along with the Zonal Officer and the SDO of Birol subdivision, visited the scene and spoke to the victims' families. They assured the families of all possible help.
The bodies of the victims have been sent for postmortem. The families will be provided assistance as soon as possible.
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