Dhankuta, Oct 26: Three people died and three others went missing after a passenger jetboat capsized in the Saptakoshi River at Triveni, in the Sangurigadhi Rural Municipality-10 area of Dhankuta district, on Sunday afternoon, The Kathmandu Post reported. The boat was travelling from Kopche in Bhojpur district towards Barahakshetra in Sunsari district when the accident occurred between about 1:30 pm and 2 pm at Triveni, the confluence point of the Dhankuta, Udayapur and Bhojpur districts.

Source: The Kathmandu Post via EIN News

Bhojpur District Police Office chief DSP Gyan Bahadur Khadka said three of the four seriously injured passengers died, while one injured passenger is undergoing treatment at Chatara Hospital. Other passengers were rescued from the river after the capsize.

Source: Banking News Nepal

Armed Police Force Nepal Deputy Spokesperson DSP Shailendra Thapa said three people are missing and APF teams have been mobilised to search for them. The deployment at the site includes a nine-member team with five divers from APF No. 1 Bahini, personnel from the Rampur Security Base, and a team from the Disaster Management Base at Chatara, Banking News reported. The Himalayan Times also reported on Monday that a rescue operation involving security personnel was under way to locate the missing passengers.

Source: Banking News Nepal / The Himalayan Times

The cause of the accident has not been determined. According to preliminary information shared by police, the boat's engine may have stopped while it was running; investigators are still establishing what happened. Police had not released a confirmed list of the dead and missing, and early reports differed on how many people were on board, so Awaaz Punjab is not publishing names or a total passenger count until officials confirm them.

Source: Banking News Nepal