Three dead, 11 missing in Assam boat capsize

Guwahati: Three persons drowned and at least 11 others are missing after an overloaded motorised country boat capsized in the Brahmaputra river near here after hitting a rock on Wednesday, officials said.

Ten passengers have been rescued, while 12 others managed to swim to safety, Kamrup Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kumar Baishya said.

The boat with 36 passengers was on its way to north Guwahati in Kamrup district across the river from Fancy Bazar ferry ghat here when its engine developed a technical snag around 2 pm and hit a rock near the bank of Ashwaklanta Temple, he said.

The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been pressed into service, and the body of two persons, including a girl student of Cotton State University, was fished out, he said.