Wedding Group Ship Capsizes, Majority Of Passengers Are Women And Children: 20 People Killed And 30 Others Missing

Illustration of the Indus River in Pakistan. (Wikimedia Commons/Nomi geologist)

JAKARTA - At least 20 people died, mostly women, while 30 others are missing, after the boat used for inter-village wedding parties and overcrowded by passengers capsized in the river.

The boat carried about 100 members of a family across the Indus River in a wedding procession between Machka and Kharor villages in Sadiqabad Sub-district, Punjab province, Pakistan, according to police and local authorities.

Nearly 90 people were rescued by divers, the statement said, adding that most of the passengers in Monday's crash were women and children.

Everyone on the ship was one clan, and they were on their way to a family wedding across the river, he said.

"We have found 20 bodies so far and most of them are women," local government official Aslam Tasleem told the local Geo News TV, as quoted by Daily Sabah on July 19.

Tasleem further explained that around 30 other passengers were still missing.

"We're not sure how many people were on the ship. We're getting estimates based solely on family members' accounts," he said.

Meanwhile, nearly 35 divers from the state-run rescue service took part in the operation, to find and rescue more people who were in the river, the statement said.

Separately, police officer Mohammad Hammad said "most of those who drowned appeared to be women" because "most of the men know how to swim."

"The death toll could rise," he said.

It is known that villagers in rural Pakistan often use boats to travel, avoiding the higher costs of car transportation on damaged roads that are often far from their homes.