Rescuers dragged out 13 dead children from the Ganges river after an overloaded boat capsized en route to a Hindu festival, officials said.
The boat overturned late Tuesday in Vaishali district in eastern Bihar state, with locals rushing to pull people out of the water in the dark using phones to find the bodies.
“We suddenly heard children screaming and crying for help as the boat capsized,” Ravi Yadav, a young villager who joined the rescue effort, said.
Villager Ramlakhan Rai said people were crammed onto a vessel suitable for just a handful.
“It is devastating – a few families have lost all their children,” he said.
Six people were pulled out alive, including two children reported to be in critical condition.
Medic Nirmal Kumar, from the local health centre, said four children and two adults were sent to the district hospital.
“We tried our best to revive them... but 13 were already dead,” Kumar said. — AFP
