15:13
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Around 40 people on a steamer were briefly left stranded in the middle of the swollen Chambal River on Sunday morning after the vessel, operating without life jackets, ran out of fuel in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind district, officials said.
The vessel drifted helplessly in the surging waters before local authorities managed to send diesel supplies to refuel and safely navigate it back to the riverbank, Morena collector Lokesh Jangid told PTI.
Around 35 to 40 people onboard the vessel were safe, he said.
The steamer, operated by the Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department from Agra, lacked life jackets, the collector said.
He said that the passengers were travelling from Ambah tehsil in Morena to a temple in Bah tehsil of Agra at the time of the incident.
"I have contacted the Agra collector over phone and informed him about the incident. The Agra district administration has been informed that the steamer did not have life jackets," he said.
The Agra collector has been requested to direct the PWD department to ensure that such steamers are equipped with life jackets and at least two to three personnel of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are on board to tackle any emergency, he said.
Several devotees have been taking the route in view of the Kanwar Yatra, Jangid said.
