Ranjan Kumar, 16, a resident of Balughat under Sultanganj police station, and his cousins Rakesh Kumar (17) and Neeraj Kumar (10) were on the boat that capsized near NIT Ghat on Saturday. Rakesh and Ranjan survived, Neeraj did not. Ranjan, who clutched onto a floating balloon to save himself, recounts the horror:

The boat had inched just a few metres away from the Sabbalpur diara. I was chatting with my cousins Rakesh and Neeraj about the fun we had at the diara. Suddenly I heard some noises on the boat. We were shocked to hear cries that water had started gushing into the boat.

Initially, I could not understand anything because we could only hear people shout. There was not an inch of free space in the boat. There were around 80 people on it, including five to six children. There was also a one-and-a-half-year-old child.

We found out that the chamber of the boat's engine had burst and it had created a big hole through which water was gushing in.

Rakesh, the eldest among us who knew how to swim, jumped into the river to save his life.

Neeraj and I were almost frozen with fear. We held each other's hands tightly. When the boat started sinking, I put Neeraj on my shoulders. We saw the boat submerge inch by inch.

We were crying loudly. Neeraj was on my shoulders for the next two minutes but when the boat was completely submerged, I was struggling.

A while later, I turned back to find Neeraj missing from my shoulders. I did not realise when he slipped from my shoulders. At this point of time, I had lost all hope of survival but I found an inflated balloon, which was being carried by a child in the boat, floating on the river.

When the boat capsized, the balloon must have fallen in the water. I held onto the balloon tightly for the next five minutes till help arrived.

I still cannot believe that I survived, but the scene of people shouting and crying while the boat sank is playing on my mind in a loop.

I can still remember Neeraj's scared face.