Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A boat carrying 20 schoolchildren capsized in Anuppur on Thursday. Fortunately, all of them have been rescued. The mishap happened near Bakeli village in Anuppur district. However, the rescue team has saved all the children, according to police.
As per the boatman, he was going to drop the schoolchildren at 10 am as he does regularly. Students of class IX to XII were sitting in the boat. After the boat reached the other end of the river, the students began to come out of it.
In this flurry, the boat went into the water uncontrollably. There were 18 girls and 2 boys in the boat. While saving all the students from drowning, the boatman grabbed each other's hands and pulled them out of the water.
As per villagers, the children of about 10 villages including Bakeli, Podi, Kodiali, Khada, Manpur go to the Government Higher Secondary School in Chachai of Gram Panchayat Kalhori. Many of these children cross the river by boat. The boat fare is Rs 20. On the day of the incident, the children were travelling by boat, when it went out of control and got into the water.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Akhil Patel, talking to Free Press, said, "All 20 children have been rescued. No casualty has been reported. We have asked the collector to make arrangements for buses for students. There is an under-construction bridge but students have to cover an extra 25 kilometres. So crossing the river is the shortest way to school. The students prefer to cross the river to reach school."
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