2 die, 8 missing as UP boat capsizes

LUCKNOW: A day after a boat carrying 27 people capsized in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh, bodies of two women were fished out of the Ganga river on Saturday, while search is on for eight other missing women, the police said.

The police said all the missing people were feared dead as there were no reports of anyone being saved in villages along the river.

Relief commissioner Sanjay Kumar said several teams of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) Flood Company and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were continuing the search operation and rescue work. He added that the officials had also conducted a recee by the Air Force helicopter.

“There was confusion about the exact number of people present on the boat but now it’s clear that the total figure was 27, including 11 men and 16 women. All 11 men and six women were rescued, the bodies of two women have been fished out while the other eight are missing,” he said.

Kumar added that the two deceased have been identified as Nagini and Meena while those missing are Kusum, Neeta, Siya, Saraswati, Sunita, Sarvesh, Kavita and Rizwana.

Superintendent of police (SP), Bijnor, Umesh Kumar Singh, said the incident took place near Raja Rampur village about 1.30 pm Friday when locals were crossing the overflowing river in a boat.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had on Friday directed the police and district administration to start rescue and relief operations immediately. He had also told the district administration to provide an ex-gratia of ~4 lakh each to the families of the deceased women within 24 hours.