A 65-year-old man drowned and a woman went missing after a boat carrying tourists from Calcutta capsized off Jharkhali in the Sunderbans in South 24-Parganas on Sunday.

The motorised boat carrying around 20 passengers, including children and women, left the Jharkhali jetty to visit an island nearby around Sunday noon. Eyewitnesses have told police that the boat started wobbling within minutes of leaving the jetty.

Passengers became panicky as the boatmen struggled to control the boat on the turbulent Herobhanga river.

“We have been told that water soon started entering the boat from one side, prompting the passengers to move to the other side. The boat tilted and capsized a few minutes later,” an officer of Jharkhali coastal police station said.

A few fishermen who were close to the boat came to the rescue of the passengers. The administration at Basanti was also alerted.

One of the passengers, who had lost his consciousness, was rushed to a hospital in Basanti, where he passed away. The police identified him as Subodh Goutanya, 65.

Police and forest department officials launched a rescue operation with speed boats but one of the tourists remained untraced. Pratima Dolui, the missing tourist, is a resident of Dhalipara in Kudghat.

Police sources said the boat, owned by a local businessman, was ferrying more passengers than its capacity. Some traders in Jharkhali said they had objected to so many passengers boarding a small boat, but members of the local boat syndicate ignored the warnings.

Jharkhali, which can be reached from Calcutta by road via Basanti, is a major tourist draw around this time of the year.