Guwahati: A machine boat with more than 100 passengers on board capsized in the river Brahmaputra near Nimati Ghat in Assam’s Jorhat district on Wednesday.
The boat was supposed to travel towards Kamalabari Ghat in the Majuli district. The mishap took place at around 4 pm when the boat, named Maa Kamala, collided with a ship, named Tipkai in the mighty Brahmaputra.
While some of the passengers could save themselves by swimming, most of the travellers have gone missing since the incident.
“The boat was supposed to leave Neematighat at 4 pm. But as the ship, Tipkai, arrived at the ghat, the boat, which got almost ready to leave the ghat, capsized when it was giving parking space for the ship,” said an eyewitness to a local media.
Damodar Barman, Additional, Deputy Commissioner of Jorhat who has rushed to the spot told UNI that the rescue operations are on and details of how many people have drowned in the head-on collision are not yet clear.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister of Assam Dr Himanta Biswa today expressed deep concern over the tragic boat accident at Majuli and directed the District Administration of Majuli & Jorhat districts to undertake a rescue mission expeditiously with the help of NDRF & SDRF.
He also directed Minister Bimal Bora to immediately travel to Majuli for taking stock of the situation. He asked Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Samir Kumar Sinha to monitor the developments round-the-clock.
The Chief Minister himself will visit Majuli tomorrow for evaluating the situation.
