12 Students, 2 Teachers Drown As Boat Overturns In Lake Near Vadodara

Twelve students and two teachers drowned after a boat overturned in a lake on the outskirts of Vadodara city in Gujarat on Thursday, officials said.

The students, from the New Sunrise School, were on a picnic when the tragedy occurred at Harni lake in the afternoon, the officials added.

The visit was organised by the school.

It is reported that there were 27 persons on board, comprising 23 students and four teachers, much more that boat's capacity.

Also, there were no life jackets on the boat.

National Disaster Response Force officials said four persons are still missing and the search and rescue operation at the site is underway.

"Distressed by the loss of lives to a boat capsizing at the Harni lake in Vadodara. My thoughts are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief. May the injured recover soon," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X.

"The local administration is providing all possible assistance to those affected. An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000," the PM further said.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel is at the accident site and monitoring the rescue operation being carried out by personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other agencies.