Two women missing as boat capsizes in Assam

Kokrajhar (Assam), Nov 2 (PTI) Two women are missing and three others injured on Wednesday when a country boat carrying them capsized in the Sonkosh river in Kokrajhar district, officials said.

The incident occurred near No 1 Gorumara Char , a tract of land surfacing out of a river bed, when five women went to collect wood floating in the water.

The place is located near the Assam-West Bengal border.

“Most of the rivers on the northern side of Brahmaputra in lower Assam originate from Bhutan and they carry wooden logs if there is rainfall upstream. The women went in a small country boat to collect wood, mainly used for cooking, he added.

During the collection of the logs, the boat capsized and two of the women went missing along with the boat, the official said.

Three other women sustained serious injuries and were admitted to a local hospital in Alipurduar.

Search operations have been launched by the district administration, police, and SDRF personnel to locate the boat and rescue the missing women, he added.

The missing women have been identified as Ramisha Khatun and Shafia Bibi, the official said.