PATNA: Eleven persons, including eight schoolchildren, went missing after a country boat, the only lifeline for children to reach school, capsized in the Bagmati river in Muzaffarpur district on Thursday, triggering protests from villagers who have been asking for a bridge for years.Officials said the boat was ferrying 30 people, including 20 children from Madhurpatti village to Bhatgama, when it turned turtle around 9am due to swift current and overcrowding.Separate teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) launched a rescue operation in the river. The rescue operation continued for almost eight hours and was suspended at 6pm due to poor light.While 20 of them have so far been rescued, officials were checking with local villagers to see if anyone unaccounted for swam ashore. "Our focus is on rescuing the children safely. There is no clear figure yet as to how many people are missing. Those who are missing include women and elderly also. As the boat capsized near the shore, many people escaped from drowning," SDO East Amit Kumar said.Nikhat Parveen, a survivor and resident of Madhurpatti village said, "I didnt know what happened, but got unconscious after the boat overturned into the river. When I woke up, I found that officials and local villagers were around me. It was a terrible nightmare. I have received another life. God is gracious."Angry villagers said their demands for a bridge have remained unheard for many years. "People use boats for shortcuts. Children also go to school by boat," said a villager present at the spot.Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who was inaugurating a newly built hospital ward at the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital in Muzaffarpur, assured affected families all assistance. "The Muzaffarpur DM has been directed to look into the matter on priority basis," he added.Around 15-16 villagers are located on the banks of Bagmati River. The administration is providing full support to the victims. Seven persons were discharged from the primary health centre after primary treatment. No bodies have been found," he said.

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