At least 100 people are feared to have been killed when an overloaded boat with about 250-300 passengers capsized in the Brahmaputra river during a storm,in Dhubri district of western Assam on Monday evening. Rescue operations were hampered due to bad weather and nightfall. Dhubri SP P K Saloi said 15 bodies have been found so far,while a number of people managed to swim to safety. We do not have the exact number of passengers on board. But eyewitnesses and some survivors claimed that there were about 300 people on it,which included some women and children too. The boat had left one of the several ghats in Dhubri town on the north bank and was on its way to Hatsingimari on the south bank, Saloi told The Indian Express. He said the accident occurred at around 5 pm when the overloaded motor-fitted boat capsized after it was caught in the storm. Rescue operations are on,with police and BSF personnel taking the help of local people,he said. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi directed the Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary (disaster management) to expedite rescue operations. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also called up Gogoi to express his grief at the disaster.
