A mechanized wooden riverboat carrying eleven passengers capsized and sank in the Brahmaputra River near Lahorighat in the Morigaon district of Assam. The vessel was traveling between a sandbar settlement, known as a chapori, and the mainland ghat when it encountered strong localized currents, causing it to take on water and overturn.
Local residents and boatmen engaged in rescue efforts using country craft, successfully pulling four passengers from the water. The survivors were transported to a nearby civil hospital in critical condition.
Seven individuals remain missing, leading to an ongoing search operation conducted by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and river police, who have deployed divers and search floats to scan downstream sandbars.
The incident has triggered protests among local villagers who have raised concerns regarding the operation of unlicensed private ferries that lack essential safety equipment. Village leaders are now calling for the strict enforcement of life jacket regulations and vessel capacity limits at all rural river ghats.
