15 January 2017•Update: 07 March 2017
By Ahmad Adil
NEW DELHI
Nearly a dozen people died on Saturday evening after a boat with at least 40 people on board capsized in River Ganges in northeastern Patna city in India's Bihar state, officials said.
The local administration launched a search operation to rescue survivors from the river -- which is considered sacred by the Hindu people in India.
“We have so far recovered 10 dead bodies and search operation is still on,” Patna's civil surgeon (senior health official) Dr G S Singh, told Anadolu Agency over phone.
He said more than a dozen people who have been rescued have been transferred to the hospital, adding that the accident occurred around 6 p.m India local time [1230 GMT].
Singh said that at least 40 people were present on the boat when it capsized in the river. “We fear more deaths in the incident,” he said.
A media report, however, put the death toll at 17 people in the boat accident.
“17 people have died while divers are searching for the missing...10 people have been rescued out of which six are admitted in the Patna Medical College and Hospital,” the NDTV said in a report published on its website.
