Guwahati: A boat accident struck the Gorakhsatari–Nadiya ferry ghat in Assam’s Barkhetri area of Nalbari district on Thursday, leaving multiple passengers many of them school students feared missing in the river.
The incident occurred when a ferry, reportedly overcrowded with over 100 passengers, broke apart mid-river. Preliminary investigations suggest that severe overcrowding caused the vessel’s upper portion to give way, plunging several commuters into the water. While the boat did not capsize, the structural failure led to chaos on board.
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Among those still missing are two students—Aryan Ali and Majidul Islam, and Gafur Ali, Grade IV government employee. The ferry was transporting residents from riverine areas to the Gorakhsatari–Nadiya ghat, a daily route for many schoolchildren and workers.
Eyewitnesses described a scene of panic and desperation as the boat began to collapse. “Many of us had to swim for our lives. Rescue teams arrived later and pulled people out, but there were more than 150 people on board,” said a student from Janata High School, Rampur, who survived the ordeal.
Rescue teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and local police launched immediate operations and managed to save several lives.
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However, the absence of basic safety measures, such as life jackets, has raised serious concerns.
Officials from the Inland Water Transport (IWT) Department reportedly had no record of the number of passengers on the vessel, highlighting alarming lapses in oversight.
Local MLA Diganta Barman, who visited the site, stated, “I’ve instructed NDRF teams to intensify efforts to locate the missing. This ferry route is used daily by students. A bridge once stood here, but it was washed away nearly ten years ago and never rebuilt.”