4 lifeless, 19 lacking after boat capsizes in occupied Kashmir

Rescuers in rubber boats joined by marine commandos have been scrambling to seek out survivors as a whole lot of anxious and mourning members of the family gathered on the riverbanks after the accident.

The lacking included a number of youngsters who had been on their option to college when the boat overturned within the Jhelum river within the metropolis of Srinagar.

“We’ve got 4 lifeless from the tragedy,” Muzaffar Zargar, the superintendent for the town’s most important hospital, advised reporters.

Three others have been being handled, he added.

At the least 26 individuals have been on the boat when it capsized, a high official in occupied Kashmir advised AFP on situation of anonymity, as they weren’t authorised to talk to media.

Days of rain throughout the occupied valley had swelled the river.

The small vessel had no motor, however its crew propelled it between the riverbanks by pulling a rope fastened at each ends.

Witnesses mentioned the rope snapped with the power of the fast-flowing water, crashing towards a pillar of {a partially} constructed footbridge close by.

“I’m deeply grieved by the lack of lives attributable to a ship accident in Srinagar,” Kashmir’s high political official Manoj Sinha mentioned in a submit on social media platform X.

“My ideas are with the bereaved households,” he mentioned, including that “all doable assist” was being offered to family of those that died.

Many workplace employees and schoolchildren take a ship throughout the river within the morning to keep away from highway site visitors.

Accidents are frequent on the treacherous roads of the mountainous area however passenger boat disasters are uncommon.