A day later, Assam can’t count its dead

Even after almost 24 hours of the biggest boat tragedies in the state, nobody exactly knows how many people were on board the ill-fated vessel that capsized in Brahmaputra.

Also, there are still no concrete figures to suggest the number of people dead and missing as conflicting reports continued to emerge.

The district administration said around 300 people on board the ill-fated vessel. “We received reports that 300 people were on board. It could be more or less than that,” Dhubri deputy commissioner Kumud Kalita told journalists.

But, the Assam’s Disaster Management Authority claimed that only 20 persons were missing as per FIRs lodged with the police till 2pm on Tuesday. It said bodies of 18 persons were recovered and 70 persons were rescued so far. While, the district authorities said bodies of 41 persons were found.

The figures of the disaster management authorities come amidst claims by the locals as well as one of the survivors Chand Mian that over 400 people were on board the ferry.

Personnel of Border Security Force and National Disaster Response Force, who conducted searches since Monday, could not retrieve a single body.

Amidst fears that the bodies of the missing persons might have been swept away to Bangladesh, chief minister Tarun Gogoi said his government was in touch with the government of the neighbouring country. The Brahmaputra enters Bangladesh about 40 km away from Dhubri.

“BSF and NDRF jawans are engaged in search and rescue operations. Two IAF helicopters have been also pressed into service,” Gogoi said. He said his government ordered a probe to ascertain the cause of the mishap.