Ten devotees from Punjab died at Vrindavan in Mathura district on Friday when a motorboat carrying them capsized in the Yamuna.

Eye-witnesses said the boat rammed into a pontoon bridge before it overturned and quickly sank deep into the waters near Keshi Ghat. Most of the devotees didn’t know how to swim.

There were 25 devotees on the boat, and 15 of them were rescued by boatmen and some people who live along the riverbank.

Shailesh Kumar Pandey, deputy inspector-general of the area, said: “Some people who were rescued have been admitted to a government hospital.” Those on the boat were part of a group of 30 devotees from Ludhiana in Punjab. The remaining five were on the riverbank.

“The wind was gusty in the afternoon and the boatman couldn’t control the vessel. Usually, no sailing permission is given to boats in this river when the wind speed is high. Controlling a boat’s direction is very difficult in such a situation. The boatman agreed perhaps because there were no river police or city police to stop him,” said an eyewitness.

“There should also be fewer than 15 passengers on a boat,” he added, citing the administration’s guideline. The government had recently banned hand-rowed boats.

Mathura district magistrate Chandra Prakash Singh said: “The rescue teams are still there and the search operation is on to check whether anybody is left behind. An inquiry will reveal the reason behind the accident.”