Scores of people have gone missing in the Saptakoshi river after a crowded wooden boat capsized on Saturday afternoon.

As many as 37 people had been rescued by evening. According to DIG Keshari Raj Ghimire, there were around 60 people, including women and children, on board the boat.

Local authorities could not confirm how many persons were missing. The boat had left Srilanka Tappu in the afternoon and was crossing the swollen river to reach Prakashpur.

The locals of Srilanka Tappu were on their way to Prakashpur where a weekly market is held on Saturdays.

Chief District Officer Mohan Bahadur Chapagain said six boats and a steamer were mobilised to search  and rescue the victims. Rescue efforts, however, were greatly affected as it was raining heavily in the area since Saturday afternoon.

Subodh Chandrabanshi, who survived the incident, said water gushed into the boat all of a sudden. “People from other boats had rescued some of those who had fallen into the waters from our boat,” he said. People in two other boats were collecting driftwood few metres downstream when the incident happened.

Stating that there were some women and children on the boat, Chandrabanshi suspected it could be them who had gone missing. Chandrabanshi also confirmed that there were 60 people on board.

Pramila Kabirath, who managed to float with the help of a sack of dried chilli, told the Post that seven-year-old daughter of Durga Kabirath had gone missing in the river. She, however, managed to save Durga’s one-year-old daughter.

Search efforts were on till late evening.

Water level in the river has been increasing for the past few days due to the heavy rains in the catchment area. Water flow in the river was recorded at 207,815 cusec on Saturday and 28 floodgates of the Koshi Barrage had been opened.

Nine years ago, at least 32 people had gone missing after a boat capsized in the same area. Their bodies were never recovered.

In 2014, at least 15 people had gone missing in a similar incident at Chataraghat, some 10 kilometres from Saturday’s incident site.

According to security officers, carrying passengers beyond capacity without using life-jackets is the main cause of boat capsize in the area.