Assam boat accident: Body of a missing victim recovered

Guwahati, Sep 11: Four days after the mishap, the body of one of the two missing victims has been recovered near Biswanath Ghat, about 100 km downstream of the Brahmaputra river from the accident site, on Saturday morning, a top official said.

"Documents were recovered on the body, from which it was identified to be of Indreswar Bora of Lakhimpur district," he said. The death toll in the boat accident is increased to two after the body was recovered by Forest department officials, Jorhat deputy commission Ashok Barman told PTI.

The body of the deceased has been sent to post-mortem before handing over to the victim's family. However, a doctor from Jorhat is still missing and even as the search operations near the accident site are on.

At least two persons were killed and one remained untraced when a single-engine private boat with around 90 passengers heading to Majuli collided with a government-owned ferry near Nimati Ghat on Wednesday.

Search operations are being conducted by multiple agencies, including NDRF, SDRF, district administrations and police personnel.

There were 90 people in the boat capsized in the Brahmaputra and overnight search and rescue operations found 87 persons alive. The private boat 'Ma Kamala' was heading to Majuli from Nimati Ghat on the southern bank with passengers and vehicles, while the government ferry 'MB Tipkai' was coming from the world's largest river island when the two collided.

After visiting the accident spot, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma ordered the police to file a criminal case in connection with the boat capsize in the Brahmaputra in Jorhat district. "I have asked the Jorhat Police to file a criminal case for the accident. By today evening, we will announce a high-level probe to find out the reasons behind the accident," he said.