Assam: Boat capsizes in Brahmaputra; govt official missing (Lead)

Guwahati/Dhubri, Sep 29 (IANS) A total of 27 of 28 people onboard a boat that capsized in Brahmaputra river in Assam on Thursday have been rescued, officials said, adding one person -- a government official, is still missing.

"As per the information available, 28 people were on the boat when it had capsized. We could rescue 27 people except for one person," Dhubri Deputy Commissioner, Anbamuthan M.P. told IANS.

The missing government official has been identified as Dhubri Circle Officer, Sanju Das. He along with a land record official and another office staff was on the boat to survey an erosion-hit area.

Anbamuthan said that as of now, they do not have information about missing any other person other than Das.

"We have halted the rescue operation due to poor visibility in the night in the area. The SDRF team will start operation early in the morning," he added.

He said seven persons were admitted to the hospital. However, they did not sustain significant injuries but went into a state of shock after the boat capsized.

On Thursday morning, a boat carrying 28 passengers hit a pillar of the under-construction Dhubri-Phulbari bridge and capsized. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) was deployed to rescue the people.

The incident took place at Adabari which is located at a distance of 3 km from Dhubri town.

Notably, the proposed Dhubri-Phulbari bridge is to be constructed over the Brahmaputra river between Assam and Meghalaya.

The bridge, expected to be completed by 2026-27, would be India's longest bridge over water, spanning more than 19 km.

The bridge, close to the Bangladesh border, will connect Assam's Dhubri with Meghalaya's Phulbari area.