Police confirmed on Sunday that nine persons, including at least four children, are missing in Saturday’s boat capsize in Saptakoshi river.

Search for the missing persons was underway until late evening.

According to police, Rekha Jha, Mina Jha, Pujan Jha, Parbati Chandrabanshi, Shakuntala Chandrabanshi, Sita Kabirath, Chanan Devi Yadav, Tuphan Rajbanshi and the daughter of

one Goltu Chandrabanshi are missing after the accident.

Meanwhile, locals of Srilanka Tappu claim that 25 persons are unaccounted for.

Rambila Chandrabanshi, chairman of a local disaster management committee in Srilanka Tappu, said there were 62 people on the boat and only 37 were rescued.

“We contacted the families of the people from Srilanka Tappu who had gone to the weekly market in Prakashpur on Saturday and found out that 25 of them had not come home,” Chandrabanshi said.

He said that 59 people on the boat were from Srilanka Tappu and three others were from Sisuwa.

Nine years ago, 32 people had gone missing after a boat capsized in the same area. They were never found.

Police said carrying passengers beyond capacity and lack of life-jackets are the main reasons behind most boat accidents and high number of fatalities.