Bihar boat capsize: Rescue efforts underway to find 10 missing children

 Muzaffarpur, Bihar - Search efforts are still ongoing as rescue teams strive to locate 10 missing children, nearly eight hours after a tragic boat capsizing incident occurred in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district on Thursday, as reported by officials.

The ill-fated boat was carrying a total of 30 children, and fortunately, 20 of them have already been rescued, according to authorities.

This harrowing incident unfolded near the Madhupur Patti ghat along the Bagmati river, while the children were en route to school.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, speaking to reporters in Muzaffarpur, assured, "The rescue operation is in progress, and I have instructed the concerned district magistrate to address the situation with utmost urgency. The state government will extend all necessary assistance to the affected families."

Kumar had visited the area earlier in the day to oversee the status of ongoing projects in the district.

District Magistrate Pranav Kumar, in a conversation with PTI, shared, "Every conceivable effort is being exerted to locate the 10 missing children. We have also mobilized divers from neighboring districts. Personnel from the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force are actively involved in the rescue operation."

Meanwhile, Vijay Kumar Sinha, the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, seized the moment to criticize the incident, stating that it "exposed" the "grand claims" made by the chief minister regarding development.

Sinha pointedly questioned, "Where is the development that Kumar talks about when the children of this region are compelled to risk their lives daily, crossing the treacherous Bagmati river in overcrowded boats just to reach school?"