A private boat carrying 120 passengers capsized in the Brahmaputra river near Nimati Ghat in Assam’s Jorhat district after a head-on collision with another ferry boat, PTI reported.
Chief Executive Officer of the State Disaster Management Authority GD Tripathi said that over 100 of the passengers have been rescued, the All India Radio reported.
The ferry boat of the Inland Water Transport department was coming from Majuli district to Nimati Ghat. The other boat was headed in the opposite direction when the collision took place, according to NDTV.
A video of the incident showed some passengers trying to hold on to the boat as it was capsizing, while others jumped into the river.
Jorhat Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ashok Kumar Barman, told the Hindustan Times that officials from the National and State Disaster Response Force were carrying out the rescue operation.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed grief about the accident.
“[I have] directed Majuli and Jorhat administration to undertake rescue mission expeditiously with help of NDRF and SDRF,” he tweeted.
Sarma directed state minister Bimal Borah to immediately go to the site of the accident, and said that he would visit Nimati Ghat on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed concern and offered prayed for safety of the passengers. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the Centre will provide all possible assistance to Assam.
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