Boat tilts during Vajpayee's ashes immersion, occupants fall in water

Basti (UP), Aug 25: Local leaders and district officials fell into the water when their boat tilted during the immersion of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ashes in Kuano river here today, officials said.

The MP and MLAs participating in the ceremony, along with the district magistrate and the superintendent of police, fell or leapt off the unbalanced boat.

The boat was close to the bank and everybody was immediately pulled to safety, officials said. Basti's Superintendent of Police Dilip Kumar said when the boat tilted to one side people jumped off towards the bank.

“All of them were immediately taken out, and there was no casualty," he told PTI. The ashes of the former prime minister who died on August 16 are being immersed in several rivers across the country.

PTI