13 Children Die as Boat Capsizes in the Ganga in Bihar's Vaishali

Thirteen children are dead after a passenger boat capsized in the Ganga river in Bihar's Vaishali district on Tuesday evening, in one of the worst river accidents in the state this year.

The boat overturned near Rampur Shyamchand village, in the Raghopur police station area, at about 8:30 p.m. local time on October 13. The passengers were residents of the village crossing the river to attend a feast in a village on the opposite bank. Vaishali District Magistrate Varsha Singh told PTI that 13 people had died and six were rescued. Other official accounts put the number rescued at seven, taken to Nalanda Medical College and Hospital in Patna in stable condition. Singh said all of the dead were aged 15 or younger.

Seven of the dead came from one family

The loss fell hardest on a single household. Seven of the children who died belonged to the same family, according to IANS, turning a village outing into a tragedy that neighbours will measure for years. The group had set out together for a feast, a routine river crossing in a part of Bihar where boats are daily transport, not a special trip.

How many people were on board is still not settled. Singh estimated 15 to 20 passengers. Tejashwi Yadav, the RJD leader who represents Raghopur in the state assembly, said he had been told 14 bodies were recovered and put the number on board at about 30. Officials said the exact passenger count has not been established, and the search continued in case anyone was still missing.

Rescue through the night

Local residents reached the spot first and pulled people from the water before district teams arrived. Divers, local police and a team from the State Disaster Response Force then worked the river through the night, supervised by the district magistrate and the superintendent of police. Singh said the operation would continue through the night and into the next day.

The cause of the capsize has not been determined. Police have opened an investigation and are questioning witnesses. Residents told reporters the boat lost control in the main current of the river. Some alleged the boat was overcrowded and in poor condition, claims officials have not confirmed.

Compensation and condolences

Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary expressed grief and announced an ex gratia payment of 4 lakh rupees to the family of each person who died, with orders to speed up the rescue and treat the injured. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also offered condolences and announced 2 lakh rupees from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for the next of kin of each deceased person and 50,000 rupees for the injured.

Why it matters

River boats carry thousands of people every day across Bihar, often with no passenger lists, no life jackets and no enforceable limit on how many can board. When a boat goes down at night in a strong current, the difference between a scare and a mass casualty is minutes. This accident will test whether the state's response stops at compensation, or reaches the unglamorous work of counting passengers, inspecting hulls and enforcing limits at the ghats where these boats load.

What happens next is the investigation, the final passenger count, and the search for anyone still unaccounted for. Until officials fix the number on board, families cannot be sure the river has given everyone back.