Bihar records over 52 deaths in boat capsize incidents over three years

Rescue operation underway to trace any missing occupants of a boat that capsized in the Ganga River a day ago, resulting in the death of at least 13 children, at Hajipur, in Bihar's Vaishali district, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. | Photo Credit: PTI

The Vaishali creaky boat tragedy in the Raghopur area of Bihar on the night of October 13 has taken the death toll in country-made boat capsizing incidents in Bihar to 30 in 2026 as of October 13 — nearly double the toll recorded in 2025 and four times that of 2024.

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The State Disaster Management Department (DMD) data show eight such boat tragedies in 2026, four in 2025, and six in 2024. Over the past three years, Bihar has witnessed 18 such boat tragedies, claiming more than 52 lives.

In 2026, 30 people have died in boat capsize incidents across Bihar, including 13 in Rampur-Shyamchand village in Vaishali district’s Raghopur block on Tuesday night. The State recorded 17 such deaths in 2025 and seven in 2024. However, department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the actual death toll could be several times higher than the official figures.

The NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) said that as many as 421 people have died in boat-capsize incidents in Bihar in the last one decade, from 2012 to 2021. The figure holds 12.2% of the total national figure of such deaths.