Patna, 14 October (H.S.): Several people, most of them believed to be children, were feared drowned after a boat capsized in the Ganga river in Bihar's Vaishali district on Tuesday evening, officials said. The exact number of deaths had not been confirmed.

The incident occurred under the jurisdiction of Raghopur police station when the passengers were travelling across the river to attend a feast in a village. Rescue and relief efforts were being pursued, with Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav urging the local administration to speed up operations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the incident as deeply painful and expressed condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. He said the local administration was assisting those affected and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.

Modi announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for the next of kin of each deceased person and Rs 50,000 for each injured person.

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary also expressed condolences and announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh for the family of each deceased person. Tejashwi Yadav, who represents Raghopur in the Bihar Assembly, said most of those who drowned were children and called for the rescue and relief operations to be expedited.

Vaishali District Magistrate Varsha Singh was not available for comment despite repeated attempts.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar