An official and many students are among those missing as a boat sinks in the Brahmaputra River

A government official and numerous school pupils were among those reported missing when a boat carrying many passengers collapsed in Assam’s Dhubri district’s Brahmaputra River on Thursday. According to locals, the boat was carrying approximately 100 passengers and ten motorcycles. According to an official, the Bhashani-bound boat collided with the post of a bridge at Adabari, about 3 kilometres from Dhubri town, and sank, rescuing 15 people thus far.

Several schoolchildren were on board, he claimed, and none have been rescued so far. Sanju Das, Dhubri Circle Officer, was aboard the boat with a land record officer and office employees to assess an erosion-damaged region. Das is still missing, while the other two managed to swim to safety. Locals used country boats to initiate a rescue operation. Divers from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have also been dispatched, according to another Guwahati official.

(source : PTI)