Nine dead after rescue boat carrying over 30 people sinks in flood-hit western India

Image: DNA India
Image: DNA India – Indian Coast Guard rescue boat crews evacuating residents from Maharashtra’s flooded Kolhapur district

Nine people were killed after the rescue boat they were riding on capsized and sank in rising flood waters in western India on Thursday, August 8.

The government-owned boat was being used to bring residents of Bramhnal village in the Sangli district of Maharashtra province to safety amid flooding caused by three days of heavy monsoon rains.

The boat’s propeller had reportedly become fowled up in a tree branch, causing the vessel to keel over while evacuating residents. Sixteen of its occupants were able to swim to safety.

Local authorities have recovered nine bodies from the site of the incident as search efforts are underway to locate 10 other people who were on the boat and have been reported as missing.

The boat had conducted numerous successful rescues of Bramhnal residents in the three days before it sank.


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