At least seven people were reportedly killed after a boat carrying around 50 people capsized in the Mah💧anadi river in Odisha's Jharsuguda district on Saturday. The incident had occurred on Friday.
The boat carrying 50 people capsized in Odisha’s Mahanadi river in Odisha's Jharsuguda district.
At least seven people were reportedly killed after a boat carrying around 50 people capsized in the Mah💧anadi river in Odisha's Jharsuguda district on Saturday. The incident had occurred on Friday.
The reports said a search and rescue operation has been launched to locate mis🍬sing persons. Earlier, it was said that around six to seven persons were missing.
The boat was carrying passengers from Bargarh district's Bandhipali area, when midway through the journey it encountered turbulent waters, leading it to capsiz🥀e near Saradha Ghat in Jharsugud♊a.
On Friday evening, the officials had said the search operation for the missing people with aid from the Jharsuguda distr💧ict administration, as well as from the state government has been launched.
Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announ💖ced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 4 lakh for🐬 the next of kin of the deceased.
A local BJP leader Suresh 🅰Pujari has reportedly alleged the "boat was operating w🀅ithout a valid licence".
"It was not accor꧑ded a fitness certificate by the authorities concerned and there was no lifeguard on it," he was quoted as saying by the PTI news agency.
He also claimed that the boat was overcrowded aꦉnd was carrying passengers beyond its capacity.
Meanwhile, district authorities said that the incident will🌺 be investigated.