Two drown, five missing in boat capsize in Teesta

Coochbehar, July 18 (UNI) At least two people, including an eight-year-old-boy and a woman, drowned and five others went missing when a ferry boat capsized in swelling Teesta in West Bengal's Coochbehar district today.

The boat was ferrying some 25 people when it capsized, Mekhligunj police station officer B Bhattacharjee, who was supervising the rescue operation, said.

Eighteen people were either rescued or swam to safety, he added.

The two bodies of Md Farid (8) and Kamala Mondol (30)- have been fished out and sent for post mortem.

Divers were pressed into service to trace the missing persons.

The country boat was ferrying passengers from Mekhligunj to Bibighat in Haldibari in Coochbehar.

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