40 dead, 160 missing as India ferry sinks

GUWAHATI: Around 40 people were dead and 160 missing after an overcrowded passenger ferry with 350 people aboard split into two and sank in a river in northeast India on Monday in a storm, police said.

"There were about 350 people on board when a storm split the steamer into two and so far we have recovered about 40 bodies and an estimated 150 people were either rescued or swam to safety," Assam police chief J.N. Choudhury said.

P.C. Haloi, police chief of Dhubri district, earlier said that the boat had been carrying 250 people.

The boat was on its way from Dhubri to the adjoining district of Fakirganj when the accident occurred in late afternoon amid strong currents, Haloi said.

Rescue workers rushed to the site and were struggling to find survivors, but darkness and bad weather were hampering rescue efforts. (AFP)