Madhya Pradesh: Madhya Pradesh: Motorboat sinks in Narmada with 9 Home Guards aboard, all rescued safely

JABALPUR: A boat carrying nine Home Guard personnel sank in the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district after the engine snagged on floating debris, triggering panic before all personnel were rescued safely, police said on Saturday.

Officials dismissed reports that the boat, which was patrolling the Gwarighat area, was overloaded beyond its capacity, and said all personnel on board were wearing life jackets when the incident occurred on Friday.

The team was patrolling the river, following the opening of gates of the Bargi Dam, when a floating piece of wood got entangled in the boat's engine and broke it down, Gwarighat police station house officer (SHO) Kanhaiya Baghel told PTI.

As the motorboat started sinking in the river's strong current, panic gripped the personnel on board, and while some managed to swim to safety, local boatmen quickly helped the others, he said.

Baghel denied that the motorboat had seating capacity of four people, but had double the number of men on it, and said that all jawans had life-jackets.

Police and Home Guard officials were probing the incident, he said.

According to Home Guard Commandant in Jabalpur Neeraj Singh Thakur, an alert had been issued for the Narmada ghats after the Bargi Dam gates were opened and a Home Guard team was deployed at Gwarighat.

The incident comes months after a cruise boat accident in Jabalpur's Bargi area on April 30, in which 13 people were killed.