At least six Nepalis have been confirmed dead in Monday's boat tragedy in Lalbakaiya river of Bairganiya, a frontier Indian village which neighbors Nepal's Rautahat district.

Their bodies were recovered from the river Tuesday afternoon.

The deceased - all members of the same family - have been identified as Jajula Hussein, 35, his wife Batiya Khatun and their sons Immamul Hussein, 2, and Sahadan Hussein, 7, and daughters Apsara Begum and Astari Begum.  The age of the wife and daughters could not been confirmed. The family is believed to be from Gaur municipality, but further details about them were not available.

With this, the death toll in yesterday's boat mishap has reached 11. Bodies of 5 people, all believed to be Indian nationals, have been fished out from the fast-flowing river till today morning.

Seventeen people, among them a few Nepalis, are still missing. But Indian authorities involved in search operations have lost all hopes of finding any of them alive, indicating that the death toll could further rise.

Altogether 17 people had either swum to safety or were rescued by the locals after the ill-fated boat capsized due to excessive load of passengers. At the time of incident, the boat was carrying about 50 people.

Among those who were rescued yesterday, five were Nepalis -- Ram Bahadur Saha and Sakuntala Devi of Gaur municipality-13, Lal Bahadur Raya of Khesariya VDC, Tulsi Mukhiya and Rama Devi of Laxmipur, Belbechiya.

The river's water level has increased to a dangerous level because of excessive rainfall in the past few days.

Meanwhile, landslides and floods killed two people and displaced hundreds of families on Monday.

Naru Damai of Asigram VDC-9, Dadeldhura district, died as landslide buried her house on Monday, while floods and landslips rendered dozens of families'
homeless, according to the Kathmandu Post.

In the eastern district of Dhankuta, Dil Bahadur Rai died when a boulder hit him while he was heading to the district headquarter, the report said.

Floods and landslides have also damaged highways connecting the southern plains with the region's hilly districts.

Floods have also displaced dozens of families in Kanchapur and Kailali district and submerged six villages in Mahottari district. nepalnews.com

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