The workers were involved in anti-erosion work at the time, and the boat was loaded with sandbags meant to help prevent riverbank erosion. A boat carrying 21 labourers overturned on the Ganga River near the Raghopur embankment in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district on Wednesday.
Officials say the boat overturned after the river’s current shifted suddenly, throwing it off balance. A search is continuing for the two labourers who remain missing. Footage of the incident has since surfaced online. It shows a wooden boat, packed with labourers and piled high with white geobags, struggling to stay steady on the rough waters of the Ganga. Waves keep washing over the side of the boat as it fights to hold its balance in the fast-flowing river. Following the incident, the use of boats to drop geobags along the embankment has been suspended for now. Tractors are being used in their place while officials review the situation.
A State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team responded quickly and managed to rescue 19 of the workers safely.
