Boat capsizes in Indian occupied Kashmir, killing at least 4 people, several missing

SRINAGAR: Four people died and at least 19 are missing after a boat capsized in the Jhelum river near Srinagar, in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Tuesday, local media reported.

“Around 15 people, several children among them, are missing after the accident,” a local official told the AFP news agency. Most of the passengers were children on their way to school and rescuers were searching for many others who were still missing.

Many office workers and schoolchildren take the river route in the morning to avoid road traffic. Witnesses said a rope used to guide the boat across had snapped due to the force of the fast-flowing water.

Boat capsizes in Indian Kashmir — People gather along the Jhelum riverside as rescue personnel conduct a search and rescue operation after a boat with children overturned in Srinagar on April 15. [ AFP]

Srinagar District Magistrate Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din Bhat said that our rescue teams are there. We are ascertaining details of the incident. Heavy rains fell over the region in the past few days, leading to higher water levels in the river.

Taking on X, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir said, “Administration is providing all possible help to the bereaved families who have lost their near and dear ones and medical facilities to those who have been injured. Marcos teams have also been alerted.”

Accidents are common on the mountainous roads of the region but passenger boat disasters are rare. Many vessels, however, are overcrowded and have inadequate safety equipment.

Last year, 22 people drowned when a double-decker boat carrying more than 30 passengers capsized near a beach in Kerala state in southern India. In May 2018, 30 people died when their boat capsized on the swollen Godavari River in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.