Miraculous escape for 1,000 as launch sinks

Nearly a thousand passengers had a miraculous escape when a portion of the launch in which they were travelling sank in the backwaters of the Sharavathi river near Sigandur launch stand, due to overloading of passengers at Tumari in Sagar taluk on Tuesday.

According to eyewitnesses, the incident occurred around 11 am. Passengers rushed towards the bank of the river when the back portion of the launch started sinking and thus saved their lives. 

There would have been a major catastrophe if the launch had sunk in the middle of the river. The launch was also carrying a sand-laden truck, apart from the passengers.

Tension prevailed for a while at the Sigandur launch stand following the incident. Residents in areas close to the river watched the sinking launch curiously as such an incident had never occurred in the last 50 years.  
    Sagar tahsildar Yogeesh Bhat, Taluk Panchayat (TP) president Shanmukhappa, TP member Harish Gatte inspected the spot. 

People of the area have condemned the State government’s apathy towards constructing a bridge over the river. They demanded that the district administration take suitable steps to prevent such incidents in future, besides operating more launches.