Banda boat tragedy: Search operation resumes for 17 missing people

Search operation resumed on Friday morning for 17 people who are still missing after their boat capsized in the Yamuna River in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district on Thursday.

The boat carrying 30 to 40 people was going from Fatehpur to Marka village.

Three bodies have been recovered so far.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) stopped the operation last night.

District Magistrate Anurag Patel said that the administration is trying its best to rescue as many people as possible.

"NDRF, SDRF, a team of local divers are searching for 17 missing people. We are trying our best to rescue as many people as possible from those who have gone missing. The rescue operation has been stopped now, it will resume in the morning," said Anurag Patel, DM, Banda.

After the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condoled the loss of lives and directed the District Magistrate (DM) and Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of the district to conduct a search and rescue operation immediately.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) reached the location promptly.

According to a resident of the area, "In the boat, around 40 people were on-board, as many as 15 people have returned. The boat capsized after one of its flanks broke, there were 8 women and 4 children on board.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, V.K. said, "Due to rain, it has been slippery which is causing issues in rescue, bur still teams are working hard to trace the missing people."

As of now, around 20 people have been rescued and 17 are still missing.

(ANI)

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