Calcutta, June 23 :    Calcutta, June 23:  Rescue operations for the 50 passengers feared drowned as a boat capsized in the Ganga on Saturday were, reportedly, hampered as the Malda district administration was busy scrutinising whether the accident occurred at Rajmahal, in Jharkhand, or at Manikchowk, in West Bengal. A boat carrying 150 passengers capsized midstream near Manikchowk on Saturday morning. Till the evening, the bodies of two children were recovered and 19 people were being treated at Manikchowk and Malda hospitals. Hours after the mishap, Malda district magistrate A.R. Bardhan claimed that the accident occurred in the Rajmahal police station area of Jharkhand and not in Manikchowk, under his charge. 'I have informed the chief secretary about the matter,' Bardhan told The Telegraph at Manikchowk. The boat started sailing from Palasgachi village, in Sahebgunj district of Jharkhand, for Mathurapurhat. Most of the passengers hailed from Jharkhand. Around 9 am, the overloaded boat turned over during a storm. People at the Manikchowk ghat saw the boat sinking and rushed to rescue the passengers with four boats. Seventeen passengers were taken to Manikchowk hospital where two girls, aged five and two, were pronounced dead. Two passengers were shifted to Malda Sadar Hospital as their condition deteriorated. Bardhan was mobbed by survivors, who either swam to the shore or were rescued. The district administration was making no serious effort to carry out rescue operations, they alleged. 'No one from your department is trying to trace our missing relatives. We have lost all our belongings. Can't you help us return to our homes in Jharkhand?' the stranded passengers asked Bardhan when he reached Manikchowk. Kaliachowk, Muthubari and Manikchowk police stations were directed to carry out search operations. 'We have neither our own divers nor an adequate number of boats,' Bardhan said. The Malda district administration has sought the help of the Farakka Barrage authorities to trace the missing passengers. The mothers of the two children, whose bodies were recovered, were inconsolable. Jenekha Bibi and her four children were sailing to Naranpur village in Manikchowk from Baluma village in Jharkhand. 'The boat was overcrowded with more than 150 passengers on board when it reached Palasgachi village. When the boat was nearing Manikchowk, there was a storm and the river became turbulent. Soon, we all fell into the water. I lost consciousness and came to in hospital. Doctors told me that all my children were missing. I know they have died. I don't want to live anymore,' Jenekha wept at Manikchowk hospital, sitting next to the body of her two-year-old daughter, Anwara Khatun. She lost consciousness soon after. Najima Bibi, who was also on the boat with two children, has lost her five-year-old daughter Sahina. 'I tried to save both my son and daughter. But I failed to save Sahina as I was trying hard to reach the shore with my son', she said. Apart from the passengers, the boat was carrying cattle, huge stacks of raw jute and about 20 quintals of vegetables. The capsized boat is yet to be traced.