Mother, twins among 6 die in Srinagar boat capsize
Six people, including a woman and her two school-going twin sons, died when a boat capsized in the swollen Jhelum River, 5km from the city centre of Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Tuesday morning.
Among the dead were 45-year-old Firdousa Fayaz and her twin 7-year-old sons – Tahir Fayaz and Mudasir Fayaz – Class-11 girl Raziya (18) of Kupwara, 34-year-old labourer Shabir Ahmad Bhat and boatman Gulzar Ahmad Dar, 40.
Three people, including two schoolchildren – Farhan Waseem Parray (7) and Haziq Showkat (9) – and Haziq’s father Showket Ahmad Sheikh, are still missing. All the children were studying in Kendriya Vidyalaya in Sonwar across the river.
Srinagar deputy commissioner Bilal Bhat said the incident occurred at 8am when an old wooden boat from Gandbal was on its way to Batwara across Jhelum.
Though the distance between the localities is 500 metres by boat, the nearest bridge is 2km away, forcing residents to take the risky ride. A footbridge near the area where the accident took place has been under construction for nearly a decade.
Kashmir valley has been receiving heavy rain since Saturday and the Jhelum was in spate in the morning.
Eyewitnesses said that the boat, which was tethered with a rope to a cable for support, got damaged when it hit an iron pillar in the river due to the heavy flow.
“Fifteen people, including schoolchildren, were in the boat when it capsized. While six people were rescued, six bodies were retrieved till the afternoon. A search is on for three missing persons,” Bhat said.
The rescued were rushed to SMHS Hospital, from where three were discharged after firstaid.
Of the three missing, officials said two are reported to be schoolchildren.
The first responders were local residents but they were soon joined by rescue teams from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and the police.
Srinagar senior superintendent of police Ashish Mishra said four teams of the SDRF, two each of the NDRF, police and the Marine Commandos or Marcos and their divers are on the job to rescue missing persons.