47 dead as boat capsizes in Uttar Pradesh (Fourth Lead)

LUCKNOW - At least 47 people, including 18 children, drowned when a boat capsized Monday in the Ganga river in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district, police said.

There were around 65 people in the boat when the accident took place near Ujwalia bank in Ballia, some 300 km from Lucknow. Several people are still missing.

According to police, those in the boat were going midstream to perform rituals related to the ‘mundan’ ceremony of their children. Some people managed to swim ashore.

“We have been informed that till late evening 47 bodies were taken out of the river. The death toll may increase as several people are still missing,” Additional Director General (Law and Order) Brij Lal told reporters here Monday night.

“As of now, the rescue operation and exercise to fish out bodies have been stopped due to darkness. The drive would resume tomorrow (Tuesday) morning,” he added.

According to police, among those killed are 15 men, 14 women and 18 children.

“At least 10 people were rescued with the help of police and divers. All are undergoing treatment at a hospital,” District Magistrate Senthil Pandiyan told IANS.

“We are yet to ascertain the exact number of the people who were on the boat, as they were from different families of various villages,” he added.

According to the police, the accident took place because of overloading.

“The boat could only ferry 25-30 people. But, at the time of accident, the boat had people twice its capacity,” inspector Shobhnath Yadav told reporters.

Ram Sumer, 50, a survivor, told reporters: “The boat’s condition was also very bad. It was an old one. When the boat flipped over, the boatman instead of saving us fled.”

The state government has announced a compensation of Rs.1 lakh to the families of each of the deceased.