Amid the gloom surrounding the boat capsize in the middle of the Brahmaputra near North Guwahati yesterday when a mechanized country boat crashed into the pillars of the JICA-sponsored water supply project, two persons — including an 11-year-old kid — have emerged as heroes of the day.
While Bharat Bora, a boatman, risked his own life to save 12 people after the motor boat, ‘SB Brahmaputra’, capsized into the Brahmaputra, young Kamal Krishna Das saved his mother, aunt and another person from drowning after the boat capsized in the middle of the river.
Kamal was in the ferry along with his mother and aunt (father’s sister) when the accident took place. He managed to swim across to the river bank after the accident. However, when he saw that his mother and aunt were not there, he swum back to the place where the boat capsized and pulled his mother who did not know how to swim to the raised bars of the water supply site.
He then saved his aunt from drowning along with another person before they were rescued by another boat.
“I saved my mother, aunt and another person after our boat capsized in the middle of the river. I had swum to the river bank when I found out that my mother was not there. So I swum back to the place where the boat had capsized and first saved my mother and then my aunt. I was swimming for around half an hour,” Kamal, a Class VI student, told News Live.
“We are alive because of him. I even don’t know to swim. It’s only because of my son that we are alive,” Kamal’s mother said.
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On the other hand, Bharat Bora who owns a boat was the first to react after the river tragedy as he risked his own life to rescue 12 passengers from the river.
“I got a call from my nephew who told me about the accident. I was at the Guwahati bank of the river and dashed off to the place where the other boat had capsized. I saw several people trying to hold on to the raised bars of the water supply project and managed to take my boat near them. Fortunately, 12 people could climb on to my boat,” he said.
