Uttar Pradesh: Three drown after boat carrying 16 to funeral capsizes

Sitapur: Three people drowned after a boat with 16 people on board capsized in Sharda river in Ratanganj village here on Saturday, officials said.

The passengers were on their way to attend the cremation of 22-year-old Dinesh Gupta who drowned in the same river during Holi celebrations on Friday, according to locals.

There were 16 people on the boat when the incident happened around noon. They were evacuated and sent to a Community Health Centre in Tambour when three were declared dead, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Biswa Manish Kumar told PTI.

A two-year-old child was rescued and sent home but 12 others are still undergoing treatment at the centre, he said.

The deceased have been identified as Sanjay (32), Khushboo (30) and Kumkum (13), police said.

Family and villagers were going across the Sharda river in two boats for Dinesh’s cremation. While the boat carrying some family members and the body reached the shore, the ill-fated boat with 16 people on board capsized in the middle of the river, the locals said.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, the police said.