At least 13 children died when a boat carrying them to a feast capsized in the Ganga in Vaishali district on the evening of October 13, according to officials.
The accident points to a familiar gap. In many stretches of the Ganga, boats remain the everyday way across, and accidents involving crowded or poorly maintained boats have been reported before.
An eyewitness alleged that the boat’s condition had been reported to officials and that help arrived late. The administration had not responded to these claims in the reports, so they remain unverified.
The next questions are for the investigation: why the boat gave way, whether it was fit and licensed, and who is accountable. Compensation has been announced, but safety checks are the lasting remedy.
Tejashwi Yadav, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and MLA from Raghopur, said 14 people had died, according to The Daily Jagran. The official count in the reports was 13.
Seven people were rescued and taken to the Nalanda Medical College and Hospital in Patna, and their condition was described as stable, according to the reports.
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.
River Ganges at Patna (file image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0