12 Dead After Boat Capsizes in UP; Search Operation Underway for Over 40 Hours

Rescue operation is underway by a team that includes the NDRF and SDRF.

People gather along the banks of Yamuna river after a boat capsized at the Marka area in Banda district, on Thursday, 11 August.

(Photo: PTI)

Two days after a boat carrying over 30 people capsized in the Yamuna river in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district, eight bodies have been recovered with the help of police and divers on Saturday, 13 August.

A total of 12 bodies have been recovered so far. Meanwhile, the process of identifying bodies and the search operation is currently underway.

Four bodies were recovered on Thursday. Four are still missing but this number might increase since the exact number of people on the boat is still uncertain, the Banda DM, Anurag Patel, said.

The boat was going from Fatehpur to Marka village.

A massive rescue operation is underway by a team that includes the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF). While 20 people were rescued on Thursday, the search operation for those who were still missing continued on Friday.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had directed senior officials of the district administration to reach the spot and supervise the relief and rescue operations.

Expressing grief over the loss of lives, the chief minister had directed the officials to immediately rush teams of the NDRF and the SDRF to the spot.

He had also asked the officials to ensure that the best treatment was provided to the injured.

He has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of those who died in the incident.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhinandan had said that the boat capsized due to strong winds.

(With Inputs from PTI and ANI.)