At least two persons were killed and seven others were missing as a boat capsized in Mahanadi River in Odisha's Jharsuguda district on Friday.
The incident took place when the boat carrying around 50 passengers was going from Patharseni Kuda to Banjipalli in Bargarh district, as per PTI.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 4 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and five divers were sent for the rescue operation.
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"Chief Minister Shri @Naveen_Odisha has expressed grief after learning about the loss of life in a boat accident near Lakhanpur in Jharsuguda district. Expressing deep condolences to the bereaved families, he also announced ex-gratia assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased.
The boat capsized as it was about to reach Sarada Ghat in Rengali police station in Jharsuguda district, a police officer said.
A video shows the local fisherman rescuing the passengers from the capsized boat. As per the PTI report, the fishermen rescued 35 passengers and brought them to the bank.
“Nearby police teams and fire teams reached the spot as soon as they received information about the incident. Rescue operations are underway,” Jharsuguda SP Smit Parmar said.
Later, police and fire services personnel rescued seven more passengers. Seven other passengers are still missing and a search operation has been launched, the police officer said.
Earlier this week, at least five persons were killed and around 40 others injured after a Kolkata-bound bus fell from a bridge in Odisha’s Jajpur district on Monday. The incident took place around 9 pm on Barabati bridge on National Highway-16, when the bus with 50 passengers was en route to Kolkata from Puri, as per PTI.