17 die as Indian boat capsizes

Seventeen people are believed to have died when a boat full of villagers returning from a picnic capsized in India’s Ganges River today, a senior police officer said.

Ten people swam ashore to safety after the boat, carrying 27 people, toppled and sank, Deputy Superintendent of Police Narendra Nath Srivastava said.

“They had gone to spend a day by the Ganges and fly kites,” Srivastava said.

The area is near Varanasi, one of the holiest cities for millions of Hindus, some 180 miles east of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state.

Srivastava said witnesses saw the passengers panic after river water began seeping into the boat.

It sank soon after.

The Ganges, also known as the Ganga, is one of the two biggest and most important rivers in India, a lifeline for millions of people in the agriculture-dominated country.

Boat accidents are frequent in India, where villagers living along rivers often use rickety, unsafe craft to cross the waters.

Safety is rarely a priority and life jackets are seldom available.