MULTAN: The rescue operation after a passenger boat carrying nearly 100 members of a wedding party capsized in the fast-flowing Indus river near Rahim Yar Khan resumed on Tuesday to search for survivors and dead.
At least 20 people died, most of them women, and another 30 were missing in the incident which occurred late on Monday, officials said.
The overloaded boat was heading to a wedding when it capsized in the Indus river in the district of Sadiqabad, the government said in a statement.
Nearly 90 people were rescued by divers, the statement said, adding the passengers were mostly women and children.
All those on board belonged to one clan, and they were on their way to a family wedding across the river, it said.
Sadiqabad Assistant Commissioner Saleem Assi said the cause of the accident was not immediately known, but apparently, the boat was overcrowded.
In a statement, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed his grief and sorrow over the incident and asked authorities to make their best efforts to rescue those passengers who are still missing.
Such accidents are common in Pakistan, where rickety wooden boats are often used to transport goods and people on rivers and lakes. Most operate without life jackets.
