Two people, including an eight-year-old boy, went missing after a boat capsized in the Mahi River in Rajasthan`s Banswara on Tuesday, May 5. Police officials further added that rescue efforts have been launched.
The incident occurred near Bhainsau village in the Arthuna police station area when the boat, carrying around 10-11 people, overturned nearly 200 metres from the riverbank.
SHO Arthuna Vinod Meena, while briefing about the incident, said that eight to nine people, all men, managed to swim to safety, while Jayesh (21) and Manav (8) went missing.
SHO Meed further added, “A search operation was launched immediately with the help of local divers and civil defence teams,” as per PTI.
Jabalpur boat tragedy killed 13
The incident comes days after 13 people lost their lives in Madhya Pradesh`s Jabalpur after a cruise capsized during a storm on April 30.
On Sunday, May 3, the Jabalpur District Administration said search operations in the cruise boat tragedy at Bargi Dam in Madhya Pradesh`s Jabalpur district were completed with the recovery of two more bodies, raising the death toll to 13.
The bodies have been sent to a government hospital for a postmortem, and all 13 missing persons identified have now been accounted for, officials said.
The boat operated by the state tourism department capsized on the evening of April 30. On May 1, officials said that 29 people were rescued and a search operation was mounted to trace those missing, as per PTI.
Multiple agencies, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and Army personnel, were involved in combing the waterbody and surrounding areas.
Several families lost their loved ones in the incident; some lost spouses, others their children, while siblings were separated forever.
A survivor of the boat capsizing incident alleged a lack of basic safety measures, claiming that passengers were not provided with life jackets.
Earlier, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav had also said that “15 citizens have been safely rescued” in the cruise boat capsized incident.
CM Yadav, while taking cognisance of the incident, said that this incident is a “severe storm”.
While taking it to the social media platform X, CM Mohan Yadav wrote, “Through swift rescue operations, 15 citizens have been safely rescued. Efforts are underway to locate those who are missing as quickly as possible.”
(With inputs from PTI)