Assam floods: Boat carrying flood-affected people capsizes; three children missing

Guwahati, Jun 18: A boat, which was carrying flood-affected people in Hojai district in Assam, capsized leaving three children missing while 21 others were rescused, officials on Saturday said.

24 villagers were on the boat which was on its way to inundated Islampur village late on Friday night when the boat hit submerged a brick kiln and capsized in Raikota area, they said.

"Personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) rescued 21 people, while search operations are underway to trace the three missing children," Hojai Deputy Commissioner Anupam Choudhury told PTI. He urged people not to take a risk and venture out in the dark in inundated areas.

"If people want to move to safer places, they should contact the district administration. We will evacuate them in NDRF and SDRF boats," he said. Kopili River has inundated vast tracts of land and affected over 55,150 people in the district, which was also severely affected in the first wave of floods earlier this year. A total of 29,745 people have taken shelter in 47 relief camps in the district.

According to a bulletin issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), another person was reported missing in a separate incident in Hojai on Friday. In Sonitpur district, a person was reported missing when the boat in which four people were travelling capsized on Friday. Three of them were rescued while a search was underway to trace the missing person. Assam is severely affected by floods with 18.95 lakh people suffering in 28 districts and 55 people dying due to the deluge and landslides in the state this year.

The flood situation in the northeast took a turn for the worse on Friday as incessant rainfall pounded parts of the region for the fourth consecutive day, leaving its major rivers in spate, officials said.

Nine more people, including two children, died in rain-related incidents in Assam, raising the toll in this year's floods and landslides to 55, a bulletin by the state's disaster management authority said.