35 people feared drowned in boat mishap in Samastipur district.

Samastipur, Aug 3 (UNI) All the 35 passengers, including several women and children, travelling in a country-made boat are feared drowned when it capsized midstream in the swelling Beti river in Bihar's Samastipur district today.

The mishap occurred at around 1400 hours when the victims, all residents of Seraya Tola village near here, were going to attend a fair at Bishar on the other side of the bank, reports reaching the district police headquarets here said. They said as the over-crowded boat reached midstream, it caught by a strong current and soon the boat overturned. As a result all the passengers swept away by the strong current.

So far seven bodies including that of two children were fished out from nearly two km downsteream of the river, while others still remained untraced, the report said adding that several Navy divers and Army rescue boats were pressed into service to trace the missing passengers.

Senior district officials were also camping at the site to coordinate the rescue operation.

Incidentally, this was the first such incident when so many people are feared drowned in one single boat mishap in the state since the fury of floods turned critical in north Bihar districts this year.

Meanwhile a report from Begusarai district, also in North Bihar, said about 200 residents of Bashi village remained untraced since last night following the breach of the embankment of the adjoining Burhi-Gandak river which was flowing much above the danger level for past ten days.

Though official sources refused to confirm the report, the District Magistrate said the villagers might have fled Bashi and had taken shelter in a safer areas elsewhere after sensing immediate danger in the wake of breach of embankment and the possibility of their homes being flooded.

However, since morning a number of countrymade boats and an airforce helicopter had been pressed into service to trace the missing villagers through aerial and on the spot survey, the DM said adding that efforts were also on to plug the breached embankment to prevent flooding of further areas.

UNI