Seven persons, including 5 children dead as boat capsizes in Seep river in MP's Sheopur

Sheopur: Seven persons, including five children, were killed after a boat carrying 11 persons capsized in Seep river in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district on Saturday, a police official said.

Four others were rescued in the incident which took place at 4:30 pm in Manpur, some 40 kilometres from the district headquarters, Superintendent of Police Abhishek Anand told PTI.

"The seven deceased comprise five children in the 4-15 age group, a 35-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman. The deceased are local residents and members of the Mali (gardeners) community. They had come to a nearby village to mourn the death of a person", the SP said.

"Local residents have told us a storm or a whirlpool may have toppled the boat. Survivors have said there were 11 persons in the boat. However, a team of the State Disaster Response Force is still camping at the site", he added.

Meanwhile, MP Chief Minister Mohan Yadav asked officials to carry out search and rescue operations on a war footing and also directed state energy minister Pradyuman Singh Tomar to rush to the site.