At least five persons drowned while four went missing when a country boat, in which they were travelling, capsized in the Sone river in Rohtas district, around 165km southwest of Patna, on Thursday.

Local residents rescued six persons and admitted them to a hospital. They have suffered injuries and are critical.

The incident occurred around 7.30am when 15 people, mostly women, were crossing the river in a boat to reach Dilla Par for agricultural work. The boatman lost control in a portion of the river where the waters were swirling. The boat capsized near Dehri-on-Sone.

Six women, identified as Phulo Devi (55), Daulti Devi (30), Chinta Devi (30), Dilawati Devi (35), Chandrawati Devi (40) and Durgawati Devi (35), were rescued and admitted to Narayan Medical College and Hospital at Sasaram.

Rohtas district magistrate Sandeep Kumar R. Pudakalkatti said 15 people were on board when the boat met with the accident. The personnel of the 9th battalion of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), have been pressed into service to find the bodies.

Till five in the evening, five bodies had been recovered and the search for the missing persons was underway, he said.

Dehri-on-Sone sub-divisional officer (SDO) Patel said five of the dead had been identified as Champra Devi (40), Parvati Devi (40), Mahangi Devi (45), Radhika Devi (44) and Kundari Devi, all residents of Niranjan Bigha and Shivganj localities of Dehri-on-Sone.

Four persons - Sima Kumar (5), Pramila Devi (40), Pinki Kumari (22) and Urmila Devi (38) - are still missing.

The SDO said the state government would provide Rs 4 lakh each as ex gratia to the kin of the deceased. Agitated over the incident, a group of residents of Niranjan Bigha paralysed traffic on Thursday protesting against the negligence of the officials.

A social activist, Fateh Bahadur Singh, said: "Four boats provided by the disaster management department are lying defunct. The rescue operation could have been faster with them."