The rescue operations were hampered in one of Assam’s worst boat accidents. The death toll is likely to rise to 200 as the rescue operations were hampered due to bad weather.
PC Saloi, a police officer at the scene said, “Our rescue efforts have been hampered by bad weather, it is still raining heavily and there is almost zero visibility in the area”. At late night the rescue operations were called off and were set to begin by next day.
On April 30, 2012, a ferry sank on the river Bramhaputra due to sudden storm in the afternoon. The police said that they have already recovered 105 bodies which includes women and children.
Reports say that the ferry as overcrowded and carried a passenger load of 300 people. The ferry mainly had farmers and their families. The actual capacity of the boat was 225 passengers and eye witnesses told that the police was old and broke in to two when it was caught in the storm. The smaller boast often get in to trouble, but this was the biggest one to sink in the recent times. The police also informed that about 150 passengers were pulled to safety and that the ferry did not have any lifeboats or lifebelts.