New Delhi-SANA
A woman was killed and dozens of people are still missing after a collision between two ferries yesterday in the Brahmaputra River in northeastern India.
AFP quoted the police as saying that each ferry had about 90 people on board when they collided with each other, noting that the accident led to the capsizing of one of the two ferries, a wooden boat that sailed from the Nemati Ghat in Jorhat district, Assam state.
Angkor Jain, Commissioner of Jorhat Police, stated that the initial investigation revealed that there were between 80 and 90 people on board the wooden boat that sank, pointing out that the accident occurred between the two boats due to an apparent communication error.
Divers scoured the river in search of possible survivors, while the authorities announced yesterday evening that 45 people had been rescued, but a woman, a 28-year-old teacher, soon died.
The authorities did not specify the number of the injured, noting that the passengers of the second ferry got out of the accident unharmed.
The Brahmaputra is a powerful river that rises in the Himalayas and crosses Tibet in China and then northeastern India before emptying into Bangladesh. Its water level has risen in recent weeks due to heavy monsoon rains.