Summary:
There were local villagers at the shore at that time. Some of them managed to swim to the shore unhurt after the mishap,” said district officials.District officials admitted that the death toll could have been higher had the boat capsized in the mid river.“The mishap took place soon after the boat left the shore with the villagers. when they saw the boat overturning, they immediately informed the local authorities and joint efforts were made to bring back the injured to the shore,” district officials added.According to them some of the villagers swam to the boat and began rescuing the villagers.“They also used some ropes, one end of the which were tied to the boat, while the other end of the ropes were pulled by the villagers standing on the shore,” said a district official. NANDURBAR: Five villagers, including three minors were drowned in river Narmada as the boat in which they were travelling overturned in the tribal-dominated Nandurbar district of north Maharashtra on Tuesday afternoon.District officials said that search operations are on to trace two more villagers are still traceless.A team of the state disaster response force (SDRF) from Dhule has been rushed to the mishap stop to assist the local authorities in tracing the two missing villagers.The senior district and police officials are camping at the mishap site.A group of villagers from about five villages Dhadgaon taluka of the district had gone to the river for performing religious rituals on the occasion of Makarsankriti when the mishap took place after one in the afternoon.The district collector, Mallinath Kalshetti, said that apart from the five dead, the district administration along with the police and local villagers were able to rescue 38 of them, who sustained injuries.“They are undergoing treatment at the rural hospital at Dhadgaon and their conditions are stable,” he added.According to him those dead include one boy, two girls and two woman, one of whom is 60-year-old.“The bodies have been handed to the bereaved families after conducting the autopsies,” district officials added.According to the district officials the boat, belonging to a local villager, had the capacity of carrying about 40 passengers.“Our initial feedback is that there could be about 50 villagers in that boat, which capsized due to overweight..