Bijnor tragedy: 8 still missing, IAF copter joins search

LUCKNOW : Two bodies were fished out from the Ganga while eight others, all women, were still missing on Saturday after a boat carrying 27 people capsized in the river in Bijnor, about 400 km northwest of Lucknow, on Friday afternoon.

Police said all missing people are feared dead as so far 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 said the officials were also doing recce by Indian Air Force helicopter in search of the missing people.

“There was confusion over exact number of people present on the ill-fated 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 and eight women are still missing while the bodies of two women have been fished out by the rescue teams,” he stated.

Kumar said the two deceased were 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 at around 1.30 pm on Friday when villagers were crossing the overflowing river on a boat. He added the rescued villagers had been admitted to the district hospital.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday had directed the police and district administration to start rescue and relief operation immediately.

He also told the district administration to provide ex-gratia of ₹ 4 lakh each to the families of the two deceased women within 24 hours.

POLICE SAID ALL MISSING PEOPLE ARE FEARED DEAD AS SO FAR THERE WERE NO REPORTS OF ANYONE BEING SAVED IN VILLAGES ALONG THE RIVER