A tragic boat accident on the Ganges river in Bihar claimed the lives of more than a dozen children on Tuesday night. The overloaded boat was carrying people toward a Hindu festival in Vaishali district when it suddenly capsized in the dark waters.
Local residents heard children screaming and crying for help as the vessel flipped. Villager Ravi Yadav rushed to the scene with others. He said they managed to pull only three children to safety using the light from mobile phones and torches because the night was pitch black. “We suddenly heard children screaming and crying for help as the boat capsized,” he recalled.
Another resident, Ramlakhan Rai, described the boat as small and in poor condition. He said it was never meant to carry so many people. Families packed onto a vessel that could safely hold only a few. The result was heartbreaking. “It is devastating. A few families have lost all their children,” Rai said.
Rescuers recovered 13 dead children from the river. Six people were pulled out alive, including two children who remain in critical condition. Medic Nirmal Kumar from the local health centre confirmed that four children and two adults were rushed to the district hospital. “We tried our best to revive them but 13 were already dead,” he explained.
Vaishali district magistrate Varsha Singh verified that 13 bodies had been recovered. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep sorrow over the incident. He called the loss of lives “deeply painful” and announced compensation for the grieving families. “My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this difficult time,” he said in a statement.
Boat accidents remain common on Indian rivers. Overcrowding, weak safety checks, and lack of proper life-saving equipment often lead to such disasters. This latest tragedy once again highlights the urgent need for stricter rules and better enforcement on waterways across the country. Families in Vaishali are left mourning their children after a festival journey that ended in unimaginable loss.
