At least 13 children have died after a boat capsized on the Ganges river in India’s Bihar state.
The children were travelling to a feast in a village across the river.
Seven people were rescued and taken to hospital.
India’s prime minister and the state’s chief minister announced compensation.
The cause is not yet known.
A team of the State Disaster Response Force worked with local divers, and the National Disaster Response Force was also deployed, according to the reports.
Villagers and local boatmen pulled people out of the water using traditional cots and ropes, according to The Daily Jagran.
Rescuers continued searching to determine whether anyone else was missing, according to India TV.
The cause of the accident had not been established when the reports were published.
An eyewitness told The Daily Jagran that the boat broke or gave way in the middle of the current, that officials had been told about its poor condition, and that the administration arrived about an hour after being alerted. These are the eyewitness’s claims, and the article carried no official response.
Other reports mention strong currents and possible imbalance as factors being examined, and one described the boat as overloaded, but these have not been confirmed by officials.
The reports do not mention an FIR or any arrests.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief on X and announced Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the next of kin of each person who died, and Rs 50,000 for each injured person, according to India TV.
Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary announced Rs 4 lakh for the family of each person who died, according to the reports.
Union Minister Chirag Paswan, whose constituency includes the area, expressed sorrow over the deaths, according to Outlook.
Boats are widely used to cross the Ganga in Bihar, where bridges are far apart in many stretches, and accidents involving overcrowded boats have been reported in the past.
River Ganges at Patna (file image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
