One dies, 7 missing in boat mishap

JAJPUR: One person died and seven went missing after a boat capsized in the Brahmani river at Chandanpur ghat in the district on  Tuesday.The boat was ferrying about 35 people when the mishap occurred at around 2 pm. They were on their way to pay obeisance to the Goddess at Block Chhak in Ramchandrapur at Bari.While a body was fished out, seven are still missing. The remaining 27 swam to safety, said Sarat Chandra Singh, a fire officer at Bari. The deceased has been identified as Soumya Ranjan Biswal (23) of Chandanpur village.Villagers of Chandanpur, Mirzapur and Rampur had boarded the boat.“Most of the missing are from Chandanpur and  search operation is on,” said Singh.The boat was reportedly overloaded. “The boat can carry a maximum of 20 people. The boatman had objected to the overloading but it was disregarded. The commuters included women and children,” said Santilata Sahoo of Chandanpur, an eyewitness.