Three children died while eight others were also feared drowned after their boat capsized in Ganga river at Raalpur ghat this morning.
The boat was ferrying 18 persons belonging to Kanjas village to a temple on the other side of the river when the incident took place. Bodies of Shipli (15), Raunaq (10) and Suraj (16) have been recovered, while search is on for eight other missing children, Superintendent of Police N Kolanchi said.
Seven of the occupants swam to safety, he said.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who represents Rae Bareli in Lok Sabha, rushed to the village and met the bereaved families, assuring them of assistance from her party.
Uttar Pradesh government has declared an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh to the kin of each of the deceased, district magistrate Mahendra Kumar said.
Those missing were Shweta (16), Komal (12), Shivani (14), Shagun (15), Chotey (12), Sunil (15), Deepak (13) and Ashu (7), the SP said.
The family members of the victims alleged that the district administration had shown laxity in looking for the missing children.
Gandhi's aide Dheeraj Srivastava took up the matter with the district magistrate who asserted that rigorous search efforts were on.
