In India-held Kashmir on Tuesday, a boat carrying passengers across a high river overturned, leaving four dead and at least 19 more missing, according to officials.
Following the disaster, hundreds of anxious and grieving family members gathered at the riverbanks, where rescuers in rubber boats accompanied by marine commandos were frantically searching for survivors.
Several kids who were their route to school when the boat capsized in the Jhelum River in Srinagar were among the unaccounted for.
The superintendent of the city’s major hospital, Muzaffar Zargar, said reporters, “We have four dead from the tragedy.”
He said that three others were receiving treatment.
A senior official in occupied Kashmir told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, that at least 26 people were on the boat when it overturned.
The river had risen due to days of rain falling across the occupied valley.
The crew of the little boat pulled a rope that was fastened at both ends to move it between the riverbanks despite the lack of a motor.
According to witnesses, the rope broke under the force of the swiftly moving water and crashed into a nearby partially constructed footbridge’s pillar.
Manoj Sinha, the top political figure in Kashmir, posted on social networking platform X, expressing his heartfelt grief over the deaths caused by a boat tragedy in Srinagar.
He remarked, “My thoughts are with the bereaved families,” and added that the relatives of the deceased were receiving “all possible help.”
To avoid traffic in the morning, a lot of office workers and schoolchildren ride the boat over the river.
While passenger boat accidents are uncommon, they do happen frequently on the region’s dangerous roadways.
