Assam: boat capsizes in Brahmaputra, dozens feared drowned

A motor boat carrying a large number of passengers capsized and sank in the Brahmaputra river in Assam on 28 September.

As per media reports, more than 40 people have been feared drowned, so far. The boat, carrying more than 200 passengers, hit a wooden bridge on 28 September afternoon and overturned.

Before hitting the bridge, the boat's engine had malfunctioned, making it lose balance in the Kolohi river, a tributary of Brahmaputra. The incident happened near the Kamrup district of Assam.

State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) is carrying out a rescue operation to move all the passengers to safety. The river has been swollen because of incessant monsoon rains.

Exact number of passengers travelling in the boat was yet to be ascertained and the local people have only said it was overcrowded. Senior police and civil officials have rushed to the spot and the hospital authorities nearby have been alerted.