Vaishali boat tragedy: What happened, how many died and what help was announced

A boat capsized in the Ganga in Bihar’s Vaishali district at about 8:30 pm on Tuesday.

At least 13 children aged 15 or below died.

Seven people were rescued and taken to a hospital in Patna.

SDRF and NDRF teams joined local divers in the search.

The Prime Minister and the Chief Minister announced compensation for the families.

The boat was carrying 15 to 20 children to a neighbouring village, according to the District Magistrate’s statement quoted by India TV.

The children were reportedly going to a feast, according to The Daily Jagran.

All those who died were aged 15 or younger, according to India TV, while some other reports mention an age as high as 16, so the reports are not fully consistent on ages.

Tejashwi Yadav, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and MLA from Raghopur, said 14 people had died, according to The Daily Jagran. The official count in the reports was 13.

Seven people were rescued and taken to the Nalanda Medical College and Hospital in Patna, and their condition was described as stable, according to the reports.

A team of the State Disaster Response Force worked with local divers, and the National Disaster Response Force was also deployed, according to the reports.

Villagers and local boatmen pulled people out of the water using traditional cots and ropes, according to The Daily Jagran.

Rescuers continued searching to determine whether anyone else was missing, according to India TV.

The cause of the accident had not been established when the reports were published.

An eyewitness told The Daily Jagran that the boat broke or gave way in the middle of the current, that officials had been told about its poor condition, and that the administration arrived about an hour after being alerted. These are the eyewitness’s claims, and the article carried no official response.

River Ganges at Patna (file image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0